Miji Forever!
by eijilover18
Summary: It's a new year, and there's two new people in the bunch at Seigaku. Lives become way more complicated- at least, for Eiji, Fuji, Momo, and the two girls. Four are in love, and Fuji's just caught in the middle.  FYI:not yaoi
1. Mochi

**Author: Hey everyone! I realize that this starts slow...but keep reading please! And review! Thanks. :)**

Chapter 1

Mochi

-Sunday, the day before 3rd year of Jr. High starts-

Eiji Kikumaru looked in the mirror and sighed. His older sister, Hikari, had used the last of his toothpaste. His toothpaste, the special kind that he'd spent a fortune on, not to mention the cashier who was an idiot and teased him because it was "kids' toothpaste." But he didn't care. He'd still have to take a walk to vent his anger, though.

Darting out of the bathroom, Eiji ran into his room and grabbed his jacket. He slid down the railing of the stairs and into the wall by the kitchen door. 'Crap, too much momentum,' Eiji thought. Feeling his face to see that it wasn't squashed like a pugs', he started out the front door.

"Eijiii!" Hikari shouted from her room upstairs. "Where are you going in such a hurry?"

"I'm taking a walk!" Eiji yelled back, and slammed the front door behind him. Eiji started walking, putting on his jacket and checking his phone. There was 1 message, from his best friend Oishi Shuichirou.

"Want to come over today? Haven't seen you in forever. My mom wants to have you over for dinner" it said.

"Sure, I'll be there" Eiji answered, and put his phone in his back pocket. That's when he saw her. Eiji stopped walking and stared.

The girl was crossing the street about 20 feet ahead of him to his side of the street. She was holding a bag, and in the other hand was a dog leash for the dog she was walking. A husky. She started walking towards Eiji. She had dark, wavy brown hair, and as she got closer, Eiji could see that she has purple eyes.

"Hi!" she said, looking up at him and smiling. She stopped walking.

"H-hi," replied Eiji. The girl looked about his age, and seemed nice.

Her dog, the husky, started licking his hang and rubbing it with his head.

"Mochi, stop!" said the girl, gently tugging on the leash. "Sorry, she just loves people."

"It's ok," said Eiji, laughing. "Mochi, nya?" He bent down and started to pet Mochi. As he pet the dog, he spotted a uniform similar to that of his school in the bag, along with books and other school supplies. Eiji wondered where she went to school…

"Uh oh!" exclaimed the girl worriedly, looking at her watch. "Um, excuse me, but I have to get home. I'm sorry! Bye!" And with that, she took off running down the street, Mochi at her side.

'Fast,' thought Eiji. 'Well, I guess there's nothing I can do.' Eiji looked down at his dark wash jeans, jacket, and tennis shoes, and couldn't help but feel slightly plain. But he kept walking, anyway.

He wondered what the new school year was going to bring.


	2. The Year Begins Again

Chapter 2

The Year Begins Again

Miku Kasuragi was riding her bike to school. Her brown, wavy hair flew behind her as she pedaled faster and faster. 'I wonder who's going to be in my class this year,' she thought.

She zoomed by someone who was walking the same way she was going. He had red hair that flipped up at the ends and he was wearing a uniform that was the same as her school's. 'Wonder who that was…' she thought, as she pedaled around a corner.

Eiji was walking to school. He was far from being late, because it'd suck to be late on the first day of school. Suddenly, someone flew past him on a bike, almost knocking him over with the wind they generated. The person was going fast, but Eiji could make out brown, wavy hair and a uniform that was the same as his school's, only a girl's uniform. 'Oh well,' Eiji thought, and continued on his way.

BRRIIIIIIIIIINNNGGG!

The bell rang out at Seishuan Academy (aka, Seigaku) signaling that class was going to start soon. But Miku was already in her seat, preparing a binder and checking to see that she had everything for her classes.

A boy entered that classroom carrying a large bad over his shoulder. He walked in and sat next to Miku. She looked over at him. He resembled the guy she'd passed on her bike….but…wait. The guy from yesterday! He had the same features and everything; he just had a uniform on today.

"Hi," said Miku, in the boy's direction. He looked up, scanning her face. Miku noticed that he had dark blue eyes.

"Didn't we meet before…?" he asked.

"Yesterday," Miku answered.

"Oh yeah! With Mochi, nya!" he said excitedly. "I love your dog!"

"Miku-chan?" said a voice from behind Miku. She turned around. A boy with light brown hair and cerulean-colored eyes was standing there.

"Fuji-kun!" Miku exclaimed, standing up to give her friend a hug. Fuji laughed, and hugged her back.

"Didn't think we'd be in the same class again," he said, smiling (and therefore, closing his eyes).

"Fujiko?" said the redhead behead Miku.

"Ah, Eiji," Fuji said, smiling as recognition crossed his face. Miku didn't quite understand how that happened, because he always had his eyes closed and his eyebrows and his mouth had to do all the work for his expressions. Fuji directed Miku toward the redhead. "Miku-chan, this is Eiji Kikumaru. He's on the tennis team with me."

"Yeah, I know," Miku said, smiling at Eiji. "I've cheered for you guys sometimes."

"Really?" said Eiji. He tried to remember someone who looked like Miku on the tennis courts' sidelines. Then he narrowed his eyes. "You aren't a _fan girl_, are you?"

"Definitely NOT!" said Miku and Fuji together.

"Good," sighed Eiji with relief. "I really despise them. But, I do have to admit, the cheering does help me concentrate."

"Me too," agreed Fuji. "Well, the despising the fan girls part at least." He turned to Miku. "So, how's Mochi?"

"She's good! I took her for a walk yesterday when I was getting a new uniform and other stuff. And on that same walk, I ran into Eiji. Not literally, but…" Miku trailed off.

Fuji looked at Eiji expectantly.

"We just talked," explained Eiji. "And then Miku-chan had to leave. Why did you have to leave in such a hurry, by the way?"

"Oh, that," said Miku, looking at her feet. "Sorry about that. I had to get home quickly because I had to get ready for volleyball practice. I'd just lost track of time, what with shopping and everything I had to do."

"You play volleyball?" Eiji asked.

"Yeah," replied Miku, brightening up. "I'm the defense specialist, or ds for short, and the main spiker for the team. I switch off."

"And a good one too, if I might add," said Fuji. "You should watch a game, Eiji, they're very exciting. I've picked up a few things to use in tennis as well."

Eiji would've replied, but the bell rang for class to start, and everyone took their seats.

The rest of the morning consisted of English, Math, and Japanese History, Eiji's favorite. And those classes weren't very exciting, mostly because it was the first day of school.

The only really funny thing was Eiji trying to do tongue twisters in English class, because they came out all jumbled. And since everyone laughed, Eiji pouted and slumped in his seat, which cheered Fuji up greatly. Miku just laughed silently at both of them, and any time she met eyes with Fuji, they'd both almost burst out laughing. This was mostly to keep Eiji's feelings from being hurt more on Miku's part; Fuji probably wouldn't have cared.

Miku, Eiji, and Fuji were walking to the tennis courts after school.

"I'm so excited! You get to meet the team, nya!" said Eiji, practically jumping up and down.

"What are they like?" asked Miku. She knew that she was going to meet them anyway; she just wanted to know in advance in case there was anything of dire importance. Or anything she needed to watch out for.

"Well," Eiji began. "Ochibi is mean, Momo is fun to tease, Oishi is a worrier, Taka is bipolar, Inui will try to take your data, Kaidoh will most likely just 'fsssshhhh' and glare at you, and Tezuka is…." He looked at Fuji, and then they both looked at Miku.

"Deadpan."

Miku laughed. "And then there's you two. The happy, upbeat one, Eiji, and the always-smiling-and-slightly-sadistic-one, Fuji." Fuji smiled evilly, and Eiji grinned and flashed a peace sign with his fingers.

"Now, let's go meet the team!" said Fuji, and they all entered the courts.


	3. The Tennis Team

Chapter 3

The Tennis Team

As the tennis court's gate clanged shut behind Fuji, Eiji, and Miku, all 7 tennis team members turned to look at the trio.

'Awkward!' thought Miku, but aloud she said, "Hello, everyone. My name is Miku Kasuragi. It's nice to meet all of you."

Everyone still stared, but the situation was less weird now, and it helped that Fuji and Eiji were standing beside her; she wasn't alone.

"Hoi!" said Eiji. "Can we all get in some kind of order here? We're going to introduce you all!" No one moved very much, but it got somewhat easier for Fuji and Eiji.

"Okay then," Fuji said, walking over to the far left side of the bunch. "This," he said, gesturing to a guy with spiky hair and purple eyes, "…is Momoshiro. He prefers to be called Momo, though. Next, is Oishi." A tall guy with black hair, weird bangs, green eyes, and a kind smile stood in front of Miku.

"Nice to meet you," he said.

Eiji leaned over to Miku and whispered, "He's called the Mother of Seigaku, because he worries about other people so much." Eiji and Miku both laughed and moved on to the next person, leaving Oishi looking puzzled at what was so funny.

"This is Inui," said Fuji. Miku had to look up to see his face well, because he was so tall; the tallest one on the team. He had non-see-through glasses and bluish black hair that spiked in all directions possible. He was writing in a notebook, looking up at Miku and the other team members once in a while.

"What is he doing?" Miku asked Fuji quietly.

"Collecting data," he replied simply.

"Seems kinda stalker-ish to me," admitted Miku. "Next?"

"Next is Kaidoh," said Fuji.

"Fssssshhh," the guy said. To Miku, he resembled a snake more than a snake did, except he had a bandana on. He had black hair and brown eyes.

"O-kay. And this is…who?" she asked, pointing to the next person, who had brown hair that came to a point on one side of his head and brown eyes.

"Taka," said Fuji.

"Aha…nice to meet you…" Taka said shyly.

Fuji continued, "You should know, as soon as he grabs a racket in his hand, he…. Can someone give me a racket please?" A racket was given to Fuji, and then to Taka. The latter's aura flared.

"HELLO! IT'S NICE TO MEET YOU!" he said, gripping Miku's hand and giving her a violent handshake. Letting go, he turned around and shouted, "C'MON! WHO WANTS TO PLAY TENNIS?" He stormed away, waving his arms above his head, and consequently losing his grip on the racket so that it flew over the fence of the tennis courts. Miku heard an "Ow!", so it must've hit someone in the head in its descent back down to earth.

"Ehehe….sorry about that…" said Taka, shyly again.

Miku couldn't help but laugh, along with the rest of the team members. Well, all except a few.

"Mada mada dane," said someone to Miku's right. She looked right, and then had to look down a bit to see him.

"Ah, Echizen," said Fuji.

"Ochibiii!" exclaimed Eiji, tackling the boy and giving him a bear hug.

"Eiji-senpai," Echizen said hoarsely. "I…can't….breathe….." Eiji released him, but only a little bit so that Eiji was still leaning most of his weight on the kid.

"This is Ryoma Echizen," explained Fuji. "Eiji calls him Ochibi as a nickname."

Miku looked closer at Ryoma, who had green-black hair and dark brown eyes. He really didn't look very comfortable.

"And last," said Fuji, "is the captain, Tezuka."

He was tall and had brown hair and brown eyes, with glasses (you could actually see through them, unlike Inui's). His arms were folded, and he was looking at Miku with a stare that made her feel…cold. She'd noticed that he hadn't laughed, or even smiled, when everyone else did. He didn't show any emotion, for that matter. Miku suddenly understood why Fuji and Eiji had picked the word deadpan to describe Tezuka.

'He looks like a rock with a face, he really does…' thought Miku.

"Pleased to make your acquaintance," said Tezuka, and Miku jumped. The rock spoke!

"So that's the team," said Fuji.

"Thanks for introducing me," said Miku gratefully, and smiling. Then, out of the corner of her eye, she saw a girl with black hair waving at her.

Rei!


	4. Rei

Chapter 4

Rei

Miku waved back at her friend, and mouthed "one second" at her.

To Miku's left, Fuji was chatting with Oishi, Taka, and Eiji.

"So did you guys have to do tounge twisters in English too?" Fuji asked.

"Yeah, we did," Taka and Oishi replied, and Oishi continued: "They were pretty hard."

Fuji started to laugh, and said, "Eiji had a bit of an episode with those." He laughed harder, and Eiji yelled, "Fujikooo!" and shook him.

"Did the one about seashells get you, Eiji?" asked Taka, laughing a bit.

Eiji looked at his feet, and quietly replied, "Hoi…"

Miku, laughing to herself, turned and started walking towards the gate of the court, as Fuji said, still laughing a little bit, "Aha… you're fun to tease, Eiji. But I have to say, the one where you said purple over and over and somehow turned it into something completely different was probably my favorite. I don't know what language you started speaking there."

Exiting the courts, Miku ran up to Rei and gave her a big hug.

"I haven't seen you in forever!" said Miku, and looked her friend in her grey-blue eyes. "What's up?"

Rei leaned closer to Miku and whispered, "I'm in the same class as Momo!" She did a fist pump and giggled. "Are you in the same class as Eiji?"

"Yep!" said Miku. "I sit between him and Fuji!"

"Lucky!" Rei said. "I sit between Momo and Kaoru. It gets a bit rough sometimes, but it's usually fine.

"Hey, can you come over this weekend?" asked Miku. "We can catch up and play with Mochi."

"Hmmm…. Maybe next weekend," said Rei. "I have a swim meet this weekend. But it has to be Saturday, because on Sunday, I have a diving competition."

"Works with me," agreed Miku. "Bye, you little 8th grader!"

Miku was walking to the bike rack to retrieve her bicycle. Today had been a good day; Fuji was in her class again and Eiji was finally in her class. She also got to meet the tennis team, which she had always wanted to do but had been too shy. Miku unlocked her bike and started wheeling it away.

She walked out the gate of Seigaku and turned the corner. Eiji was about 10 feet in front of her, walking home by himself. Miku ran to catch up with him.

"Hey," she said, returning to a normal pace as she finally caught up.

"Hoi," he replied, looking over at her.

"So do you think you're going to make it to the regulars again?" she asked.

"I hope so," said Eiji. "I mean, there are 9 of us and 8 spots for the regulars, so one of us isn't going to make it."

"Yeah," Miku agreed. "That's the downside of it."

"What about you, though?" asked Eiji. "The volleyball team can be fairly large, right?"

"Mmhmm." Miku nodded. "Not too big, though. About 12 people."

"Two squads?"

"Ish, yeah."

They both walked in silence for a bit, and then Miku asked:

"Do you have any brothers or sisters?"

"Both. Two older brothers and two older sisters."

"Dang. Hope you have a lot of bathrooms."

Eiji laughed. "Yeah, well, at least I get a room to myself. The other people have to share. What about you?"

"Only child. It's usually just me and my mom, because my dad travels around a lot for work."

Eiji stopped walking.

"Hm? What's wrong?" asked Miku.

"This is my house," said Eiji, pointing to a two story white house.

"Oh. Well, see you tomorrow!"

"Bye!" Eiji said, waving, and he went in his house.

Shutting the front door behind himself and turning around, Eiji found his brother's manically smiling face right in front of his.

"Who was that?" he asked, with a tell-me-tell-me attitude.

"Why do you care, Daisuke?" asked Eiji, squeezing by his oldest brother and starting to climb the stairs. Unfortunately, his second oldest sibling, Tatsuya, was blocking his way.

"I bet it's a girlfriend!" said Hikari, sticking her head in from the kitchen doorway.

"Do you like her?" questioned Eiji's youngest older sibling, Aya, stepping in the hallway from the kitchen.

"Ugh, stop you guys!" Eiji yelled. It was time for the last resort tactic. Eiji backed up a few steps, then ran and jumped, somersaulting over his brother Tatsuya in the stairway, and finally, ran upstairs and into his room. Eiji locked the door and leaned on it, panting.

"Mom, I'm home!" Miku yelled in the general direction of the rest of the house that she wasn't currently present in. There wasn't an answer, so Miku walked into the living room, sat on a couch, and set her backpack down. She sighed.

"Hey, when did you get home?" said her mom, popping in from the next room.

"Just…a second ago…" Miku said. "Didn't you hear me shouting at you?"

Miku's mom shook her head. "Do you have homework?"

"No…okay, so today in class..." Miku started, but her mom started walking away and went into another room.

"Keep talking, I can hear you!" she called from, basically, the other side of the house.

'Uh huh,' Miku thought. 'Exactly like you can hear me when you're using the lawn mower.'

Miku was lying in her bed and thinking about life in general-school, friends, family, and….Eiji. He seemed like a really fun and amazing person from the first time they met, and getting to know him more was the first priority on Miku's list. She'd always admired him, but hadn't really got the chance to meet or talk to him.

Until now.


	5. What's Your Favorite Type of Ice Cream?

Note from the author: Sorry some of the time/point of view breaks were confusing…I'm going to try something else to show the same thing! Thanks for reading!

Chapter 5

What's Your Favorite Type of Ice Cream?

The week following the first day of school was pretty uneventful. Miku started going to tennis practices to watch and cheer when she didn't have volleyball games or conditioning. Classes were still pretty easy, and English hadn't gotten any less complicated for Eiji, to Fuji's delight.

On Friday, after tennis practice, Miku approached Fuji and Eiji.

"Hey guys," she greeted them, smiling. "Can I ask you something?"

"Miku-chan, what is it?" Fuji asked.

"I was wondering if you guys wanted to come over tomorrow. You know, to talk and play with Mochi and stuff." suggested Miku.

"Hoi!" agreed Eiji excitedly.

"Sure, sounds fun," said Fuji. "Should we meet at the park by your house or your house?"

"Probably my house," Miku said. "Okay, see you tomorrow!"

"Bye!" both boys said, waving.

Miku walked away, happy that she'd have something fun to do tomorrow.

As soon as Miku was out of sight, Eiji asked, "So how do you two know each other again?"

"Since seventh grade, we've been in each other's classes," explained Fuji. "As time passed, we just got to be closer and good friends."

"Are you…" Eiji trailed off. This was going to be awkward.

"What?" Fuji asked suspiciously.

"Are you two…dating?" Eiji asked, finally. He had to know.

Fuji was quiet for a few seconds, looking at Eiji. Then he laughed. "No, why would you think that?"

"Well, you two just seem so close," Eiji said sheepishly.

"No, Eiji, we aren't dating at all," said Fuji. "Why do you ask?"

"Just…wondering," sighed Eiji. "I'm going to change. See you tomorrow."

'Weird,' thought Fuji. 'It'd be idiotic to follow, though.' So Fuji busied himself with his grip tape.

'That one looks like a hippo…and that's an airplane…' Miku thought. She was lying in the grass in her front yard, looking at the clouds until Eiji and Fuji arrived.

Miku felt her phone buzz in her front pocket. She looked at the message.

"Sorry, but I'm being detained at my house by my sister, Yumiko. I'll try to come over some other time. ^.^ -Fuji" it said.

Miku's heart sank a bit. He'd never cancelled before, and she had wanted to talk to him about something. She hoped Eiji didn't cancel too…

Miku sighed, and stretched her arms out to the sides.

"That one looks like a tennis ball," she said aloud.

"More like a bee. It's got those little feeler things on its head," someone said.

Miku sat up quickly and looked to her right.

"Eiji!" she said exasperatedly. "You almost gave me a heart attack!"

"Sorry. So…where are Fujiko and Mochi, nya?" he asked.

"Mochi's inside, probably sleeping. And Fuji cancelled," explained Miku halfheartedly.

"Fujiko-chan cancelled?" said Eiji, trying to process the information. This was almost as confusing as English class, for him. "That's weird. He almost never cancels."

"Yeah, I know," Miku agreed. "But anyway, I think we should just grab Mochi and walk to the park. Did you bring a tennis racket?"

"No…why, are we going to play a match?" Eiji asked.

"Believe me; it wouldn't be worth your while to play against me. Volleyball is my game. No, you'll see when we get to the park. Let's go get Mochi!

"Mochi! Go…get it!" Miku served a tennis ball through the park, and Mochi ran after it and brought it back.

"Your form looks pretty good, actually. Can I try?" Eiji asked. Miku nodded and tossed the racket and tennis ball to Eiji. He twirled the racket around his wrist a few times, and then served.

Miku and Eiji alternated serves for a while, until Mochi lost the tennis ball. So, Miku pulled a tug-of-war toy out of a bag.

"Mochi! Come here!" Miku called. Mochi grabbed on to the toy and started to pull. "Eiji, come help!"

Eiji grabbed the only spot on the toy that there was to hold on to without getting his hand bitten off- which was holding onto Miku's hands.

To Eiji's surprise, Mochi was actually really strong. She growled playfully and tugged on the toy. Eiji and Miku tugged back. Suddenly, Mochi let go and started chasing after a squirrel, which sent Miku and Eiji tumbling to the ground, laughing. They finally stopped rolling and lay next to each other, looking at the sky through the trees' leaves and branches.

"Eiji?"

"Yeah?"

"What's your favorite type of ice cream?"

"Um…probably rainbow sherbet. You?"

"Chocolate chip cookie dough."

They looked at each other, and then back to the sky.

Miku sat up quickly. "Where's Mochi?"

"Uh oh," Eiji said, looking around.

"Come on, we have to go look for her!" said Miku, grabbing Eiji's hand (subconsciously) and dragging him along.

"Mochiii!"

"You found Mochi, though, right?" came Fuji's voice over Miku's speaker phone.

"Yeah, we did," Miku answered. "She was over on the playground with some kids who were playing with her."

Fuji laughed. "She really does love people."

"Very much so," agreed Miku.

"So what did you guys do?" asked Fuji. "I need to know to see if I really missed out on anything."

"What, so you can go back in time and figure out a way to escape through your window?" Miku asked.

"I couldn't do that without impaling myself several times, because there are cactuses in the way, remember, and then breaking something from the fall. Sorry."

"You're so optimistic. Anyway, have you heard of something called the _front door_? It's the new fad. It's on the _ground floor, _and you yourself own one."

Fuji gasped. "_Really?"_ he asked, sarcastically. Both of them laughed.

"Miku! Dinner time!" Miku heard her mom shout from downstairs.

"I have to go now," said Miku. "I'll see you Monday!"

"Bye!" said Fuji, and Miku hit the end call button on her phone. She really wished that he'd come; he was one of her best friends. But it was more than she could've possibly hoped for with Eiji.

'Thank the Lord for dogs,' Miku thought. 'They're cute, fun to play with, and they give you an excuse to spend time with people you like.'

"MIKU!"

"Coming, coming!" Miku yelled back.

'Mom may be deaf, but she sure can yell like a foghorn…' thought Miku, and ran down the stairs.


	6. Open Club Day

**Author's note: Okay, I realize that this didn't come till WAY later in the anime but who cares? Not. Me. Anyway, just bear with me here as I break the chronological order of events…mwahahaha!**

**I think I'm going to raise the rating from K+ to T, just because as the people get more…passionate, let's say, they use flowerful language. ;)**

**FYI: to those who aren't familiar with Japanese- tensai (shown later in this chapter) is Japanese for genius, which is Fuji's nickname. So when you see tensai, you know it's talking about Fuji. Okay, chapter time!**

Chapter 6

Open Club Day

Miku was walking to school today, chewing a piece of watermelon gum. It was Monday, and today was the day when the school displayed and opened its clubs for others to try. Miku, however, being the captain of the girls' volleyball club, stayed to help out at her own club. It was a bit of a drag, but she still felt happy to coach others about her favorite sport, and maybe even recruit some people.

"Miku-chan! Miku-chan! Wait up!" Miku heard Eiji calling her. She stopped walking and waited for him to catch up.

"I'm so excited!" Eiji said, his eyes and grin both wide. "Today's open club day! I can't decide what I want to do; they're all so fun!"

Miku laughed. "Gum?" He took a piece and popped it in his mouth. Then Miku continued, "I'd love to do open club, but I'm the captain so I'm staying at my own club to help. Maybe I can slip out and try tennis club." She winked, and smiled.

"Hmmm…" Eiji thought aloud. "I guess you could. I wonder what sport I should do…"

Both people were unaware that Fuji was creeping up behind them. Well, he wasn't actually _trying _to creep up on them, he just walked quietly. That's just what a watching bystander would think.

"I'm doing curling," said Fuji, putting his arms around Eiji's and Miku's shoulders and scaring the crap out of both of them. Miku almost screamed, she just gasped and covered her mouth, and Eiji fell over. Fuji just laughed at both of them.

"Fujikoooo!" Eiji whined, giving Fuji a pouting expression.

"You really get a kick out of scaring people and/or seeing them suffer don't you…wait, forget the or…but anyway," Miku said. Fuji laughed with evil mirth.

She sighed, smiling, and shaking her head. "So curling, huh?"

"Yep," said Fuji. "I'm guessing there won't be a lot of people there, but oh well. I'd do volleyball, but you'd probably seriously beat me and then somehow take revenge on me for this just now. I…don't want to know. With curling, all you have to worry about is slipping on ice."

"I could push you over," offered Miku.

"And I'd help," suggested Eiji. The two high five.

"Aha…" laughed Fuji weakly. "I'll try to evade you two somehow."

"Oh no!" exclaimed Miku. "I've gotta go, guys! I'm supposed to be setting up the volleyball club stuff in five minutes! Fuji, here's a piece of gum. See you later!" and with that, she took off running.

Eiji and Fuji watched her round a corner and sprint out of sight. Then Eiji said, "Since when is gum a top priority over being late?"

"I have no idea," said Fuji, and put the gum in his mouth. "Mmm. Watermelon." He blew a bubble. Then, looking over at Eiji, he asked, "So what club are you going to do, Eiji?"

"I don't know. I kinda want to do gymnastics, but I think that's only for girls. So…I might do volleyball, I guess."

"Hmm. You want to play Miku?"

"What? Um…I…don't…know….yeah, I kinda do," Eiji resigned to say, looking at quite an interesting bush on the side of the road. It was all…green and pink and stuff.

"Ah, Eiji. You've got your work cut out for you. She's _really _good. And anyway, I don't even know if she's even playing, or if the girls and boys are split up."

"Way to dampen the mood, there, Fujiko."

"Sorry. Well, I wish you luck in your endeavors," said Fuji, and they rounded a corner.

As soon as Eiji and Fuji walked in the gate of Seigaku, they saw the tables with sign-up sheets for open club day. Fuji found the curling sheet, which didn't have any names on it yet, and Eiji ran over to Oishi, who was still trying to decide what he wanted to do.

"Ah, Eiji," Oishi said, smiling at his approaching friend.

"What club are you going to do, Oishi?" Eiji asked.

"I have no idea what to do," admitted Oishi, scratching his head. "What are you going to do, Eiji?"

"Volleyball," he said simply, grabbing the sign-up sheet and putting his name down. "What time do the clubs start activities again?"

"In about 10 minutes," said Oishi, looking at his watch. "Why?"

"Yes, but what _time,_ nya?" asked Eiji impatiently.

Oishi looked worried. "E-eight o'clock," he said. "Eiji, what's up? Something wrong?"

"No, but I gotta run! Bye!" Eiji waved and took off towards the gym.

"Eiji-" Oishi started, but Eiji was already out of hearing distance. Concerned, Oishi looked back at the sign-up table. 'Why was Eiji so preoccupied?' Oishi thought, becoming more worried by the second. 'Did he get dumped by a girl? Did…oh no…did someone in his family die?' Oishi panicked, and grabbed the volleyball sign-up sheet, signing the last open spot for the volleyball club. He walked quickly towards the gym, worrying further and coming up with worse and worse situations.

"Eiji, here!" Miku called. Eiji gave her a high set. She jumped, and spiked the ball hard, right behind the person attempting to block her spike. Landing softly, Miku looked over to Eiji, giving him a wink and peace sign, which Eiji returned with a grin.

In the back row behind them, Oishi was confused at what was going on. Yes, his team was killing the other in straight points. Yes, the next point was match point. And yes, the front was doing all the work, stealing the show. Aka, Eiji and Miku. But the thing that he didn't understand was…Eiji. Eiji usually took the attention and spotlight by himself; and now he was sharing it with someone else. Gladly sharing, in fact. And with a _girl,_ at that. Not that there was anything wrong with that; Oishi just hadn't known Eiji to ever really be close friend with a girl. Ever. Oishi couldn't blame him though; Eiji's sisters at home were insane.

The whistle blew, signaling that the serve was coming. The ball flew over the net, and Oishi bumped it to a teammate in the front. She, in turn, set it to Miku, who jumped, faked a spike, and then allowed Eiji to jump up and smack the volleyball on the other side of the net. Eiji, Miku, and Oishi's team had won. Their team gave each other a group hug, then high-fived the other team. After this, Eiji and Miku fist-bumped and cheered, as Oishi walked over. Putting his hand on his friend's shoulder, Oishi said, "Eiji, want to go check on what clubs the others are doing?"

"Hoi," Eiji agreed, nodding and grinning.

"Can I come?" asked Miku.

"Sure!" Oishi said. "Okay, who to check on first…"

"How about Echizen?" suggested a voice behind the trio, sending chills up their spines.

Miku turned around first. "Fuji…" she said through gritted teeth. Her voice had an edge on it, but she was smiling. Oishi and Eiji turned as Miku continued, "I swear to God, Fuji, next time you go do that, I _**WILL**_ strangle you."

Even the usually bouncy Eiji and kind Oishi had evil, demise-plotting smiles on their faces. And they were _all _looking at Fuji.

He backed up a few steps, smiling and laughing weakly. He put his hands up in front of himself.

"Aha…okay… Shall we go check on Echizen now?"

On the way to the area where Fuji was leading them, the tensai tried to ignore the whispering and malicious laughter behind him from the trio.

When they arrived, Ryoma was playing ping-pong…and losing. He was playing a boy his age with glasses, a mole on his face, and quite a smug expression. As the game progressed, however, Ryoma started playing "tennis style". He incorporated all of his tennis finishing moves in defeating the other seventh grader.

"Mada mada dane," he said, smirking. Then, Ryoma walked over and joined Oishi, Fuji, Eiji, and Miku.

"Ochibiii!" Eiji cried and glomped onto the smaller boy.

"Who next?" Oishi asked Fuji.

Fuji laughed mysteriously. "Baseball."

"Fuji," Miku said, following him. "Baseball isn't a person…"

As the four people (Ryoma and Eiji count as one person at the moment; Eiji is still hanging on him) approached the baseball field, they spotted two familiar people- Taka and Inui.

Taka's team was pretty skillful, but Inui's team had data. Inui's calculations destroyed all of Taka's team's chances to score, and so Inui's team won.

"Great game Taka, Inui," said Fuji, high-fiving the two as they joined the group.

"We're going to check on them next," said Fuji, and started leading the way.

The party of 7 arrived at the gym, opening the doors and sliding inside. On one court, a basketball game, with Momo participating, was going on. On another, several badminton nets were set up. Kaidoh was taking part in that club, using his tennis skills to dominate the games he played.

On the basketball side, Momo was a star. He was scoring dunk after dunk after dunk. His teammates were cheering and the opposing team was, well, experiencing serious terror and trepidation.

Partway through the game, Momo was going up for yet another dunk, when something hit him in the face, making him lose his concentration and grip on the basketball. He looked over at Kaidoh, who was glaring at him.

"Fsssh, guess I hit the birdie a little too hard," he said, tapping his racket on his shoulder. He smirked at his arch rival.

"You bastard, that was on purpose!" yelled Momo, walking angrily toward the bandana-clad badminton player. Oishi tensed, ready to break them up if a fight started. Meanwhile, on the basketball court, Momo's teammates were losing points without him.

"Momoshiro!" someone called from the basketball game. Momo looked back, shot a furious glance at Kaidoh, and went back to the game, easily taking back the lost points within a matter of minutes.

"Well," said Fuji, interrupting his fellow spectators. "Want to see my activity?"

Fuji led the group into a dimly lit, large room. No one was inside. Fuji grabbed a curling "rock" and slid it along the ice to the target on the floor.

"Bullseye," he said softly, as the rock stopped directly in the center.

"Hey Eiji," Miku whispered in Eiji's ear. "When should we trip him?"

Eiji laughed quietly. "When he's throwing the last rock, probably." He whispered back.

"Why are we whispering? He's too far away to hear us…"

"I don't know."

Just as Fuji was going to throw his last rock, Miku and Eiji stuck their legs in Fuji's way, which the latter didn't seem to notice. All the same, he slid both legs out from underneath their owners, sending the rock, unscathed, to its destination on the target and Eiji and Miku sprawling onto the ice, laughing.

"As…expected…of Fuji," Eiji said, still laughing.

Fuji turned, his cerulean eyes open, and smiled at his two friends lying on the floor. "Come on, guys, you _have _to do better than that." Fuji turned back towards the target. All of his rocks were as close as they could possibly be to the center.

"Other participants…zero. Championship is mine," he said, chuckling evilly. The rest of the group took this chance to escape-quickly.

Outside his house, Eiji bade Miku a farewell, and she continued on her way home. Eiji went in his front door, shutting it behind himself.

"Did you walk home with that girl again?" Eiji's sister Aya asked.

"Yes," Eiji answered.

"Do you li-"

"Shut up." Eiji said and went upstairs. Hearing no reply, he thought, 'hey, it worked for once.'

"I'll take that as a yes!" Eiji heard from downstairs.

'…or maybe not…'

**Wow, that was a long chapter. My first over 2,000 words! Hooray! Keep reading! **


	7. A Series of Fortunate Events

**Author's note: Wow, I noticed while reading this over again that people in my story fall over and laugh a lot. Hehe…. Eiji is a very sensitive boy…and that's all I'm going to tell you…**

Chapter 7

A Series of Fortunate Events…Though Some Might Argue Otherwise

It was finally Friday. The week had been long, and everyone at Seigaku was happy for the weekend to be here at last.

Miku was sitting outside the tennis courts, watching afternoon practice. It was almost over, and everyone was finishing up their exercises.

Tezuka, the captain, was standing close by, and Miku was itching to ask him something.

"Tezuka-san," she said, walking over to where he was. "I have a question."

He turned to face her to show that he was listening. She almost chickened out, though, because of the scary, stern look that he was giving her.

"Um… do you ever make yourself run laps? I mean, I know the others have to run as punishment sometimes, but I don't ever see you running."

He stared at her for a few seconds, and then looked away. He'd obviously never been asked that before.

"No," Tezuka said. Miku was afraid that that was all he was going to say, but then he continued, "I haven't run laps as a consequence in 2 years." He looked back at her. "Anything else?"

"N-no," Miku answered. "Thank you for your time, Tezuka-san." She did a shallow bow, and Tezuka nodded back. Miku walked back towards her spot.

Practice drew to an end, and Miku waited for Fuji and Eiji to finish changing. She didn't realize, however, how tired she was, and so she drifted to sleep on a bench.

Miku was awoken a few minutes later by someone shaking her gently. Opening and rubbing her eyes, she saw a girl of about 7th grade looking down at her. She had dark brown hair in long braids and brown eyes.

"U-um… If you sleep too long here, the gate might close," she said nervously. Miku had known people who stuttered and others who said "um" a lot, but not both at the same time.

"Who're you?" Miku asked sleepily.

"S-Sakuno Ryuzaki," she answered.

Miku sat up on the bench, looking around.

"What time is it?" she asked, still drowsy.

"5:37," said Sakuno.

"Oh, you're right. The gate does close soon," Miku said. "Thank you for waking me up." She looked closer at the 7th grader. "Haven't I seen you before?"

"P-probably," the girl said. "I'm the coach's granddaughter. Coach Ryuzaki, I mean. She's been away for a while scheduling games with other schools."

"Sakuno-chan," said a voice from behind the two. Sakuno turned.

"Ryoma-kun," she said, smiling. She'd seemed to have lost all of the nervousness that had previously been present in her persona. Sakuno gave Ryoma a peck on the lips. Miku just stared, confused. She couldn't help it.

"They're dating," explained someone who had magically appeared on Miku's right, sitting next to her. She tensed, and looked over. Fuji!

Miku tackled the laughing brunette to the ground, making Ryoma and Sakuno stare.

"I swore I'd strangle you, Fuji!" she said, laying next to him and starting to laugh. Damn that tensai, his smiles and laughter were contagious. They both lay there, holding their sides and giggling their heads off, causing quite a scene.

When they finally stopped laughing, Miku rolled onto her stomach and pushed herself up. Then, she offered Fuji a hand, which he took, and Miku helped him to his feet.

They started walking towards the gate of their school, talking.

Meanwhile, Eiji had been and was standing by the tennis clubhouse, watching the entire scene play out. He didn't like it. He felt…well…jealous. Eiji half wanted to catch up with them and half wanted to curl up in a ball by himself with the giant teddy bear he had at his house. He chose somewhere in the middle of the two- he didn't catch up with Fuji and Miku, but he did follow behind about 50 feet. He'd do that until he got to his house, and then race inside and up to his room. He started walking until he could see Fuji and Miku ahead of him; then he slowed his pace to a quiet stroll.

Up ahead, Fuji and Miku were conversing about their favorite places to go, and Fuji somehow mixed in photography.

"Okay, personally I think beaches are the best," Miku stated.

"Nope. Forests are way better, especially when all the flowers are in bloom," said Fuji.

"Yeah, well you don't have allergies," argued Miku.

"It makes for a good picture! Unless, of course, there's a sunset. Any locale is amazing with a sunset."

"Like a beach?"

"Like a beach."

"Hehe," Miku chuckled. "I win. Especially when the sunset is pink, red, orange, and purple, with a bit of blue sky mixed in."

"And speaking of red," said Fuji, who stopped walking and turned around, opening his eyes. "Eiji, what are you doing all the way back there?" Miku looked back too, alarmed.

At the moment, Eiji wished the tensai was nearsighted. He looked at his feet, and continued walking silently.

As he was a few feet in front of Miku and Fuji, Miku reached out and put her hand on his shoulder, stopping his slow walk. He looked up into her worried purple eyes with his own sad, dark blue ones.

"Eiji, what's wrong?" Miku asked, her voice worried and yet serious at the same time. When Eiji didn't answer, Fuji stepped in.

"I'll let you two work this out," he said. "My street is just up ahead, anyway." Fuji walked away, leaving Miku watching him and Eiji not wanting to be standing there, so he counted the number of light posts on the street.

"Well, shall we walk?" Miku asked Eiji. No answer, just a miniscule nod to the pavement. So, Miku grabbed Eiji's wrist to get him walking beside her.

"Come on, I'm not going to pull you all the way," she said. "Don't make me tackle you like I did to Fuji earlier." To this Miku saw anger flash across Eiji's face, and then return to a grave expression. All the same, Miku needed to know what was going on.

"Eiji. What. Is. The. Matter?" Miku asked slowly, emphasizing each word to make sure that it was understood. "I saw that face just now. Don't worry, you can tell me. I promise…" she stopped walking, and gently turned Eiji's face to look at her own. "I promise that I won't tell anyone, Eiji."

"Not even Fuji?" Eiji said finally.

'Oh, so _that's _what this is about,' thought Miku. Aloud, she said, "I promise."

Eiji sighed. "Do you like Fuji? As in like like, not as in friend like?" he blushed, looking away.

Miku had to process that information for a moment or two. Then she said, "Eiji, why would you think that?"

Eiji let go of caring and his sadness and let his anger take over. "You two talk about everything, and with the way you acted today, I couldn't help but think you were going out. I asked Fuji, and he said you weren't, but to tell the truth, I don't quite believe him. _And _you call him by his given name! I know it's stupid, but it's how I feel." He looked over at Miku. Her eyes were open wide, looking at him, but slowly changed to show a pained expression on her face.

"I call you by your given name…" she began to say quietly, but covered her face with her hands and whispered, "Eiji…"

"Is it true or not?" he asked, impatiently, probably louder than needed.

"Eiji, no. We aren't going out. I don't like him that way, I never have, and I never will. I only value him as a friend and peer…" she trailed off.

"Oh," Eiji said, obviously preoccupied with his thoughts. "Bye, this is my house." He looked at Miku, who was looking back at him with tears in her eyes. Eiji turned, and walked quickly to his front door.

"Eiji, I-" Miku started, but he'd closed the door already. A tear ran down her face as she continued the walk home.

Inside his house, Eiji sprinted up the stairs, into his bedroom, and shut the door. He flopped onto his bed, and put a pillow over his head, closing his eyes. He was so stupid. He still had Miku's tearful expression burned in his retina when he closed his eyes. Eiji hadn't meant to make her cry…

He mentally kicked himself in the head (which was actually possible; he's an acrobat, remember).

He sent Oishi a quick text telling him that he needed to come over the next day because Eiji needed to talk to him. Eiji hoped that this was the right move, because with his decision making skills today he could just screw life up for everyone around him more. Hopefully, Oishi could help him…

**Author's note: Keep reading and review! Thanks! :D**


	8. The Meetings

**A/N: Thanks to everyone for keeping up the reading! R&R!**

**And if you've seen the anime Eiji pulls an excuse like the one he uses when the Chocolates come to his house… what a smarticle he is ;D**

**And now for the chapter! It skips around a lot, but whatever! Enjoy! (*.*)◊ ****(that's the chapter… bent… sideways… never mind)**

**FYI****: Calling people by their given names in Japan and not using an honorific like -chan, -kun, or -san is a _BIG DEAL._**

Chapter 8

The Meetings

Ding dong!

Miku ran down the stairs from her room, down the hall, and opened the front door.  
"Rei!" she exclaimed with a smile on her face, giving her best friend a hug.

There was a rumbling coming down the hall, and from behind Miku, Mochi leaped out the door and onto Rei, licking her face. Miku had to drag Mochi back into the hall, and then get Rei inside to close the front door.

Once Mochi was lying on her own bed in Miku's room and asleep, Rei and Miku sat on the latter's bed and talking about school.

"So how are things with Momo and Kaidoh?" Miku asked.

"Well, they only try to fight about once every class, maybe more," said Rei with a sigh. "I'd move where I sit every day, but I just like sitting beside Momo, and he has a window seat. What about you?"

"Well, Eiji is still having a hard time with English class," said Miku with a giggle. "He's especially clumsy when trying to read some of the poetry, like the rhyming ones. He makes Fuji's day when he does those. Fuji, of course, gets straight A's in all of his classes without trying hard and is always helpful when Eiji is partially asleep in class, though I think that he'd really love to see Eiji squirm a bit. I help with the books, like when Eiji has to read and is confused and doesn't know where we are."

"Your class sounds really fun!"

Miku laughed and nodded. "So…what club did you do on Monday?"

"I did softball. My team won by a long shot, too. I would've done basketball, but it was all filled up. But you had to stay in volleyball, right?"

"Yep. But Eiji and Oishi were on my team. We won all 3 sets in straight points, and Eiji and I stayed in the front and spiked our heads off." By this point in Miku's tale she was grinning, telling her friend about hers and Eiji's comradery in the volleyball club, as well as all the other people's activities. "And then on Friday, I fell asleep after talking to Tezuka a bit and this girl named Sakuno woke me up. Apparently, she's dating Ryoma."

"Yeah, I've heard about that. Momo complains that he brags about his relationship skills."

"Yeah, and then I walked home with Fuji part of the way and then…Eiji…the rest…" Miku trailed off, remembering what had happened the day before.

"Uh oh," said Rei. "What happened, Miku?"

"Well, Eiji had been acting funny ever since Fuji spotted him walking behind us. And then Fuji left, leaving me with Eiji, who was looking really sad. I asked him what was wrong a few times, and then he asked me…if I was dating Fuji." She spoke the last part slowly and gradually decreasing in volume.

"WHAT?" Rei almost shouted, her eyes wide and an indignant look on her face. "Why the hell would he think _that?"_

"I call Fuji by his given name and I talk to him a lot and am very open with him…"

"It's the same with me! And you call Eiji by his given name too, don't you?"

"Yeah, that's what I tried to say…"

"There's something you're not telling me, Miku."

"He y-yelled and then left suddenly," Miku said, a tear running down her face. "Eiji was angry at me and I was crying. It was really embarrassing…" and then started to cry. Rei gave her friend a big hug and a teddy bear. Miku just sat their silently for a while, rocking back and forth on her bed.

-Meanwhile, at Eiji's house…-

Eiji and Oishi were walking into Eiji's living room. Surprisingly, no one was home. Apparently Eiji had faked being sick and the family had gone on a trip without him, so that he and Oishi could be sure to talk in private.

"Eiji, what did you need to talk about?" Oishi asked. "You were vague over text."

"I need to talk about…" Eiji took a deep breath. "Miku."

"Okay, but why me? Why not Fuji? I thought you, him, and her were close?"

"You don't want to talk?"

"I said okay, Eiji." Oishi put his chin in his hand and looked at the floor, waiting for Eiji to begin.

"Um…alright then. Well it all started on Friday. You remember the scene outside the clubhouse with Miku and Fuji, right?"

"Yeah, it was kinda awkward."

"Anyway, I walked behind Miku and Fuji for a while, but Fuji spotted me. Then he left and Miku was asking me what was wrong. But I was so busy being pissed off and depressed that I… I yelled at her."

"_What?" _Oishi said, looking up at him with a slightly shocked look on his face.

"Yes, yes, I did," Eiji squeezed his eyes shut and covered his face with his hands. "And there's one more thing."

"Which is…?"

"I...I made her cry, Oishi."

Eiji opened his eyes and looked up at his friend. He was staring at Eiji in shock, not speaking.

"Eiji…" Oishi whispered. After a pause, "What are you going to do now?"

"I-I don't know," Eiji replied quietly, shaking his head. "Oishi, can you do me a favor?"

"Yeah, I think so."

"Punch me in the face, please. Maybe it'll knock some sense into my head."

Oishi was easily 10-20 times as shocked as he was when Eiji told him about Miku. If Eiji wasn't as depressed he would've wondered why Oishi eyeballs didn't just pop out of his head.

"I-I can't do that, Eiji. Sorry."

"I figured as much… maybe Kaidoh can…"

"Ah… I'll be right back, Eiji."

Eiji sighed, and buried his face in a pillow. Oishi returned shortly with a giant teddy bear and put it on the couch next to his friend. Eiji, in turn, tackled the bear, giving it a giant hug.

"Thanks, Oishi," the onyx-haired boy heard his friend say into the bear.

"The Daigorou Bear saves the day again," Oishi murmured, and sat back on his couch with a sad smile on his face.

-Back to Miku's….-

"Thanks for cheering me up, Rei," Miku said, her tears finally gone.

"Anytime," Rei replied with a big smile.

Miku sighed and looked out her window.

"Rei?"

"Yeah?"

Eiji looked at his friend. "Oishi?"

"Yeah?"

Eiji and Miku simultaneously said, "I…I think I'm in love."


	9. What Just Happened?

**A/N: Keep up the reading! Reviews and constructive criticism greatly appreciated!**

**Inanimate objects seem to hate me today… my pen stabbed me, drawing blood and puncturing my leg, a sharpie tripped me, sending me flying into the couch, and the couch scraped the back of my foot while I was trying to walk away… and this butterfly house thingee tripped me and almost sent me face first into the wall.**

**ANYWAY….. Hope you like the chapter! I had to research for it a bit! ;)**

Chapter 9

What Just Happened?

_There was silence._

"_With who?" Oishi and Rei asked._

"_Eiji."_

"_Miku."_

_The friends were at a loss for words._

It was Monday, and Miku was walking to school, chewing gum and listening to her iPod.

As she passed Eiji's house, she stopped walking and stared longingly at the front door. She quickly grabbed her phone and texted him, "Want to walk to school together? –Miku" before she could chicken out.

Eiji had his uniform on and was looking out the window at Miku, wondering what he should do. In his right hand, his phone buzzed. It was a message…from Miku. She wanted to walk to school together. But… should he go with her and act like nothing had happened, or should he decline the offer?

Eiji decided that he was going to oblige, but this was probably going to be awkward.

He raced down the stairs and out the door, just as Daisuke was looking out the window, saying "Look, guys! Eiji's girlfriend!"

Miku smiled with relief as Eiji joined her, walking to school. She put her iPod in her backpack and gave Eiji a piece of gum. They walked in silence for a while, both not knowing what to say.

"How many different flavors of gum do you have, nya?" Eiji asked, trying to make conversation.

"You don't want to know," said Miku with a laugh. "You might keel over by the sheer number of them."

There was silence.

"Is there _any _other candy you like? Oh, and by the way, there's this thing called mint gum. It's really good; you should try it."

Miku stuck her tongue out playfully at him. "I don't like mint gum. But I _**LOVE **_chocolate."

"W-well, you _are _a girl…"

"Oi! Don't be stereotypical!"

They both laughed, and Eiji mentally sighed with relief. It seemed that she wasn't holding a grudge or anything.

Miku continued, "I don't even like pink!"

"Then what is your favorite color?"

"Purple."

"Mine is-"

"No, wait! I want to guess!"

"Uh…okay…"

"So, let's see…it's not pink, because that would just be…weird…is it blue?"

"Nope, that's Kaidoh's favorite, nya."

"Okay…green?"

"Tezuka."

"Silver?"

"Ochibi."

"Ugh…white? Please no…"

"Oishi."

"Thank God. Um…brown?"

"Nope. That's Fuji, strangely enough."

"Black?"

"Inui."

"Teal?"

"Taka."

Miku was desperate. "Red?"

"That's Momo's favorite…"

"I give up, then."

"…and mine."

Miku gasped. "Really? I thought I was never going to get it and it was one of those obscure crayola crayon colors…"

Eiji laughed. "Well, it is, actually, I just thought I'd make it easier for you." He smiled at her.

"Thanks," she said sarcastically, smiling back.

It was then that they both realized that they were standing the Seigaku gate- and it was deserted.

They exchanged "oh crap" looks and sprinted off to their first class. They were going to be very late.

It was now after school, and the regulars were changing for tennis practice.

Eiji and Fuji were standing next to each other, cleaning up everything they weren't using for training.

"Fuji," Eiji said quietly.

"What is it, Eiji?"

"Can I talk to you in private after practice is over?"

"Yeah, of course. Where should we meet?"

"In here, probably, when everyone else leaves."

"Okay." They both grabbed their rackets and headed out. Since practice wasn't quite starting yet, they both walked over to Miku and sat on either side of her.

"Hey, guys," she greeted them.

"Konnichiwa," Fuji answered.

Eiji was poking his racket strings and had a slightly confused look on his face. Every time he prodded on the strings they sagged under his fingertip way more than they were supposed to.

"How did I play on these…? I need to get them fixed…" he said, mostly to himself. "I'll be right back, guys." With that, he started to walk back to the clubhouse to get a new racket.

"Fuji?" Miku asked, when Eiji was out of earshot. "Can I trust you to keep a secret?"

"…yeah."

"You promise?"

"I promise."

"Open your eyes, Fuji. Not that I could tell if you were lying anyway, but…"

Fuji opened his deep blue eyes and looked into Miku's. They weren't lying in the slightest, and if they were, Tezuka was a ballerina and had lost his virginity at 12. Which was impossible.

…right?

"I promise." Fuji said with a definite tone. Miku sighed and leaned over and whispered in his ear, "I…I like Eiji. A lot."  
She leaned back and looked at Fuji's face. His expression was…mixed. Present in it were surprise, knowing, and a hint of abandonment.

Not many people other than Fuji could pull off that look and communicate so much through a glance.

"You realize that that's a really hard secret to keep, right?"

"Yes, but I trust you Fuji," Miku said, with a weak smile.

"Are my eyes really _that _amazing?" Fuji wondered quietly at her, and then continued in a louder, more normal tone of voice.

"So when Yuuta came home yesterday, kaa-san made him his favorite pumpkin curry," Fuji started a story. Miku was confused for a moment, and then saw Eiji coming back out of the corner of her eye and jumped in.

"Wow, that's great!" she said, putting a smile on her face. "How is he getting along at St. Rudolph?"

"Pretty well."

Eiji sat down next to Miku, on her other side.

"Who's Yuuta again, nya?" he asked.

"My younger brother," Fuji explained. "He's still as stubborn as ever, that one."

"Everyone to practice now!" Tezuka's voice rang out around the area of the courts. Miku waved to her friends as they left to start their tennis drills.

Miku cheered for Fuji and Eiji as they played practice matches as a part of their training menu, and as practice drew to an end, they had both won their matches. Exiting the courts, the regulars went back to the clubhouse to get changed. One by one they all left, leaving Fuji and Eiji alone, trying to look busy.

Eiji looked up, around the room, and then sighed, which made Fuji look at him.

"What did you want to talk about, Eiji?"

"Can you keep a secret?"

'Oh Kami-sama, not another one,' thought Fuji.

He opened his eyes, since, according to Miku, apparently they were magical.

"Yes, I can, Eiji."

Eiji clenched his fists and looked Fuji in the eyes.

"I like Miku, Fuji. A lot."

Fuji wore the same shocked, yet knowing, yet still slightly abandoned expression as when he talked to Miku-not on purpose; this was just…new to him…and then not at the same time. But this time there might have been a bit more abandonment showing.

"You realize that that's a really hard secret to keep, ne Eiji?"

Eiji nodded. "I'm sorry to entrust you with this; I had to tell someone."

"It's all right." Fuji smiled, his eyes closing once again. He stood and put a hand on his friend's shoulder. "I'm all ears if you need to talk."

"Thanks Fuji. See you tomorrow." Eiji grabbed his tennis bag and left the clubhouse, a spring back in his step. He was relieved to have someone else to confide in; someone who _knew _and could help him.

"Hey!" Miku was suddenly by Eiji's side. "Why so happy?"

"Happy is my natural state of being," Eiji said, after a bit of thought. "It's easier and less work to be happy than sad."  
"I'm glad to hear that," Miku sighed with a smile.

"Listen, Miku," Eiji said, turning to face her. "I'm really sorry about Friday. I was being stupid and I wasn't thinking straight. Gomenasai."

"It's okay, I forgive you."

Eiji was relieved to see her genuine smile still present on her face.

"Well, shall we walk home?" he asked. Miku nodded, and they proceeded out of the Seigaku gate.

Behind them, Fuji had finished locking up the clubhouse and had been watching. He wore a relieved smile on his face. Fuji knew that Eiji was a bit childish still, and he hoped that the latter wasn't too naïve for this…

**A/N: Wow...I must've been tired... at first Eiji clenched his face :O **

**I'll try to update soon!**


	10. St Rudolph

**A/N: Sorry for the delay! I was busy and had a computer virus that was MALICIOUS (dun dun duuun) so yeah… Hope you enjoy chapter 10! **

**FYI: there is a bit of a time skip here… read carefully… and yes, it is a long chapter…**

* * *

Chapter 10

St. Rudolph

Miku was running as fast as she could. Seigaku could get a chance to go to the nationals if they won today. But they were facing a tough enemy- St. Rudolph. Miku hoped that she wasn't going to be late for Seigaku's meeting and first matches.

Finding the gate to the competition grounds where the tennis team was competing, Miku dashed up the stairs and through the gate. She looked to the right and left while running, looking for the Seigaku team. But since she wasn't looking, she ran into someone who was walking towards her.

Miku found herself lying on the ground next to someone who had short black wavy hair and was wearing a uniform. Her head hurt; she must've hit it on the ground when she fell.

She coughed.

"I'm sorry I ran into you," Miku said, moving herself to a kneeling position so that she wasn't sprawled out on the pavement. "I wasn't looking where I was going."

"It's all right," the boy said, supporting himself on his arm and sitting up. With his right hand, he twirled his bangs around his finger, and continued, saying, "I'm St. Rudolph's tennis team manager, Hajime Mizuki. I'm guessing that you're from Seigaku?"

"Y-yes, I am," Miku answered. This guy was a bit weird. "I'm a tennis team supporter, but I play other sports as well. I'm Miku Kasuragi."

Mizuki nodded to show that he understood. "Nice to meet you."

Miku remembered the rush she had been in just a moment ago, and looked down at her watch.

"Uh oh… I'm sorry, but I have to leave," she said. "I don't want to miss anything. See you!"

Mizuki watched her leave, and then got to his feet. 'Maybe she's one of the tennis team's weaknesses…?' he thought, making his way to the courts.

* * *

Miku ran until she found the tennis courts, and the Seigaku team, but this time she actually was looking where she was going.

She saw that Inui and the coach were already starting to brief the squad on the lineup and about the team they would be playing. Miku wedged her way in next to Fuji and Eiji. Fuji looked over and greeted her with a smile. Then, Eiji looked at her.

"Hey, are you okay?" he asked. "You're really pale."

"KIKUMARU!" the coach yelled at him.

Eiji pouted.

"This team is the best that we've faced so far," Coach Ryuzaki was saying. "Remember, if we win this we'll get a ticket to the nationals!"

"Right," Inui continued. "Their captain and manager, Mizuki, has stayed with the team and beat our captain in a match last year. The players are strong and have undergone special training. And there's one more thing… Fuji's younger brother is on that team. He's trained to go against left-handers, and has earned the name 'Lefty Killer.' His personal goal is to 'Defeat brother…'"

Miku leaned closer to Fuji and whispered, "It's your fault again, ne Fuji?" This earned a chuckle from the tensai.

Coach Ryuzaki's voice boomed out once again. "The lineup is as follows: Doubles 2: Momoshiro and Kaidoh! Doubles 1: Kikumaru and Oishi! Singles 3: Ryoma! Singles 2: Fuji! And finally, singles 1: Tezuka! Do your best! Show them what we've got!"

Eiji, who was getting excited, yelled, "SEIGAKUUU!", and the rest of the team joined in the familiar cheer. "FIGHT-O! FIGHT-O! FIGHT-O!"

On the other hand, Momo and Kaidoh were confused. They were arch enemies, the coach knew full well, and yet they had been put in the same doubles match together. They glared at each other, blaming their having to work together on the other.

Miku approached Tezuka and Coach Ryuzaki slightly timidly.

She coughed, and said, "Excuse me."

Both looked at her, and consequently, so did the rest of the regulars.

"Um…I was wondering, if you guys win today-"

"What do you mean by if, Miku-chan?" Momo cut in indignantly.

"Okay, then, _when_ you guys win today, would it be okay for the team to come over to my house to celebrate?"

The captain and coach looked at each other, then back to Miku.

'Wow, telepathy is actually possible,' she thought.

Coach Ryuzaki was the one to answer her question with, and Miku was surprised to see this, a smile.

"That would be great! Thank you for hosting, Miku-san."

Miku nodded and grinned. "No big deal! I'm glad it will work out." And with that, she walked back to where Fuji and Eiji now were.

* * *

"GO! SEIGAKU!" Miku cheered.

It was now Eiji's turn to play a match. Momo and Kaidoh, despite all their arguing and fighting, had pulled through and beaten the other two. However, the match was ended early because Momo had hit an extremely powerful smash that accidently hit his opponent's face and knocked him out. Miku was officially scared of Momo.

Now, though, Miku was cheering Eiji and Oishi on. They had just started their match, and they seemed to be doing well, winning one game after another…

Wait.

The opposing pair were intentionally hitting every ball to Eiji, making him do his acrobatic play to cover. He was rapidly losing his stamina and focus, making lots of mistakes that were easily avoidable.

Miku, angry at the other team, cheered with all her might, hoping that it might help Eiji concentrate as it had so many other times.

After a little while, Eiji had started twirling his racket around his wrist, which was a good sign, and kept up his acrobatics. But one time he started to spin the racket around his wrist, he dropped it, and labored to pick it up again.

What followed was this:

After losing another game, Eiji and Oishi walked back to their bench for water and a pep talk. Oishi was listening to Coach Ryuzaki while she was telling him what he could to improve. When she was done, and the referee blew his whistle for the players to get back to the court, and Oishi obeyed. When the ref told the players a second time to get on the court, however, Oishi looked around, alarmed. Eiji was still sitting on the bench with a towel over his head, panting. Oishi ran over, and checked to see if Eiji was okay. To this, Eiji replied "What? I'm ready, let's go!" in an out-of-breath voice.

Eiji stood in one spot on the court after that, not moving at all, and Oishi covered for him. Miku gripped the chain fence that surrounded the courts and bit her lip, thinking, 'Eiji, you can move now…please do something…'

When the game count was 5-6, with St. Rudolph leading, Oishi was in trouble. Playing 2-on-1 with such good players was very difficult. The score was 30-0, and Oishi and his opponents were rallying. Then, a ball was hit past Oishi and it was match point for the other team. The remaining Seigaku player continued on until the other team hit a drop volley, which Oishi read and hit back. However, it was a trap, and an opposing team member smashed the ball past where Oishi could reach. He tried to run after it, but faltered. Miku looked down and sighed with sadness.

"40-15!"

Miku's head snapped back to the game.

Eiji was jumping up from where he lay, high fiving Oishi and giving him a peace sign.

"I was worried you weren't going to make it, Eiji."

"Nope! Recharge complete!" Eiji winked.

The game ended with a tie break in which… the other team won.

Eiji and Oishi had tried their best to the end, however Eiji's recharge hadn't been enough to last him all the way through the end of the game. Oishi put Eiji's arm over his shoulder and helped his still barely standing teammate out of the court area. Miku ran over and supported Eiji's other side, helping Oishi set Eiji down by where Miku's spot was. Miku sat and allowed Eiji to lean against her for support.

"Sorry…Miku…" he said, breathing hard.

"It's okay," she said, smiling. "You tried your best. Fuji will kick their butts for you, now."

Miku cheered as much as was possible for Ryoma, without moving too much, as he played Fuji's brother, Yuuta. . At first, Ryoma was at a serious disadvantage because of two awesome shots that he couldn't return. After a while, though, the stubborn 7th grader broke through the shot and found a way to counter both of Yuuta's shots with his new technique- drive B.

During that game, Eiji fell asleep out of exhaustion with his head on Miku's shoulder.

After that, it was pretty much a one-sided victory for Ryoma. Yuuta did well, but not well enough to win. No more needs to be said.

Finally, it was Fuji's turn. Miku was surprised to see that Mizuki was playing. He now had on tennis clothes instead of a formal uniform- as well as a very angry expression. At that moment, Miku wanted to see Fuji totally beat him.

At first, though, Fuji lost one quick game. 'Okay, he's just finding out his opponent's weaknesses,' Miku thought. 'Come back strong!'

Miku's wishes didn't come true. Fuji lost one game after another, and pretty soon the game count was 5-0 and the final game for Mizuki. The latter was wearing a very smug expression and staring at Fuji.

"I know all of your weaknesses, Syuusuke Fuji," Mizuki said with a smirk. Fuji just glared at his opponent with open eyes.

The last game started, and Mizuki again targeted Fuji's weakest spot. Fuji returned it in a flash, to Mizuki's surprise.

"Did you think that you were targeting my weak points?" Fuji asked, in a scarily polite voice. "Too bad, those are actually my best."

After that, Fuji never lost a point and won the match 7-5. Miku cheered loudly, and accidently woke Eiji up. But he joined in the merriment when the fact that Seigaku was advancing and going to the Nationals was explained to him by Miku, in a very slow and clear voice to make sure the sleepy redhead understood.

* * *

"MR. GREEN IS EVIL!"

"HAHA! YOU LANDED ON MY PROPERTY! PAY UP, BUDDY!"

Miku never knew Monopoly and Clue could be this competitive.

The nine regulars were at Miku's house. Taka had brought sushi over for dinner, so Miku didn't have to cook for all of them, and she thanked him profusely.

Momo, Ryoma, and Taka were playing Monopoly, and Ryoma owned most of the properties. Taka was holding a racket, and Miku was surprised he didn't break the board, or the table for that matter, when he took his turn. Momo just made the game exciting by yelling commentary.

Kaidoh, Inui, and Oishi were playing Clue. Oishi had to be dragged over to the game, because there was _killing_ involved (God forbid). Inui's data was getting him nowhere, much to his disappointment. Kaidoh, on the other hand, was a rockstar. He'd almost found out the person, place, and weapon in just a few minutes.

Lastly, Tezuka, Fuji, and Eiji were playing poker and other various card games. Tezuka and Fuji had great poker faces, while Eiji grinned when he got a good hand and pouted when he didn't. So, therefore, Tezuka and Fuji were winning almost everything.

Currently, they were engaged in a very competitive (and to Fuji, "competitive" in cards is silently pressuring your opponents until they fall over and give you all of their chips) game of poker. Eiji was, of course, losing. Fuji won a hand once in a while, and in those hands he won a LOT of chips. Tezuka was dominating the game, to say the least, somehow using his Tezuka Zone to get royal flushes almost every hand.

After a few more turns, Eiji was out, and he walked over to Miku with a pouting expression on his face. He sat down next to her on the couch.

"Miku, I'm a failure at poker," Eiji said sadly. Miku felt bad for him, but it was hard to keep from laughing. She just coughed instead.

"Eiji, is it just me, or is it really hot in here?" Miku asked.

"It's not very hot in here." Fuji was suddenly sitting beside Miku on her other side. "Yes, I lost already. Tezuka made me go all in and then got another royal flush, damn him."

Miku decided to ignore him, because the last time she did anything, she got in a fight with Eiji.

She coughed into her sleeve a few times.

"Hey, are you okay?" Eiji asked, with a concerned look on his face. "You've been coughing and pale all day."

"I'm okay," Miku said softly, scooting lower in her seat. She sighed. "It really is hot in here, though."

"NOOO! ECHIZEN, YOU CAN'T WIN!" Momo's voice tore through the room.

"NO! BURNING!" Taka yelled, jumping up with his hands high over his head. With his racket in hand, of course.

Miku stood up and walked over, somewhat shakily.

"Guys, stop!" she said, grabbing the racket out of Taka's hand. He immediately reverted back to shy form, saying, "Sorry, Miku-san…"

"Please, call me Miku-chan at least."

"Okay." He nodded, with a timid smile.

"Miku-chan, is there another game we can play?" Momo asked. "I need to get my revenge on Echizen!"

"Mada mada dane, Momochan-senpai," Ryoma said with a smirk.

Miku directed the trio to a box of assorted board games. "There," she said.

"Miku-chan, that's Mochi," Taka said, with a confused expression on his face.

"Oh. Well, then it should be…" she looked around. "Over there, beside the doorway."

"Nope, that's the box that the sushi came in," he said, shaking his head.

"Wow, I must be really tired. Um… then I guess it's that one that Kaidoh is leaning on."

Momo ambushed Kaidoh, grabbing the box and digging through it. Ryoma helped.

"Thanks," Taka said.

"Sure," Miku replied, and started to walk back to the couch. She coughed, and staggered slightly sideways.

Eiji jumped up and ran over, putting his hands on her shoulders to stabilize her. Miku looked at him. His face was a mask of worry.

"Miku, are you sure you're okay? You… Miku, you're sweating!"

"Oh, am I?" she said weakly, feeling her forehead.

"Has anyone you know had the flu recently?" he asked.

"Yeah… my mom, why?"

'And _I'm_ supposed to be the slightly dull one,' Eiji thought. "I think you might have caught it," he replied simply.

"Oh." She was sweating quite a lot now, and had a very flushed face. "Eiji… I don't… feel… very…." and fainted.

Moving quickly, Eiji kneeled and caught her gently before she hit the floor.

Fuji appeared in front of him.

"What happened, Eiji?" Fuji asked, alarmed.

"She's sick," Eiji answered. "I'll take her to her room."

"Need help?" Fuji asked.

Eiji shook his head, and picked Miku up bridal-style.

"Her room is the one up the stairs and on the left," Fuji directed. Eiji nodded, and started away. He kept a secure but gentle hold on Miku, who was sleeping soundly with her head against his chest. Eiji laid her on her bed, ran to the bathroom and found a thermometer. He put it in her mouth, and when it beeped, he looked at the tiny screen.

"Holy crap," he said, shocked. "105.2?"

Eiji looked around, and seeing her phone on her bedside table, he called her mom and told her the news. She promised to come home right away. Eiji hung up, and ran back to the bathroom, returning with a cold washtowel. He laid it on her forehead, and sat down next to her on her bed.

'She really is cute when she's sleeping,' he thought, blushing slightly.

After a while of watching her and checking her temperature to make sure she didn't get any worse, he laid down next to her. A little while after that, he fell into a quiet, deep sleep.

* * *

"Eiji? Eiji? Eiji? Wake up!"

Eiji rubbed and opened his eyes and yawned. Opening his eyes, he saw Fuji leaning over him and lightly shaking him.

"Eiji, Miku's mom is here and it's time to go home. It's almost 11."

"How is Miku?" Eiji asked.

"I'm better, thanks, Eiji."

Eiji looked over at Miku, whose face was a few inches away from his own. She was smiling, and looked more comfortable than she had earlier. "I'm sorry if you catch this too…" she trailed off, and turned away to cough.

"I'm glad you're okay," Eiji said with a relieved sigh, looking up to the ceiling. "I was a little worried when your fever was over 105 degrees."

"Well, it is still a bit hot in here for me, but my mom turned on the air conditioner and gave me some medicine. She put a blanket on you, too."

"Eiji, we should probably go now," Fuji reminded him. "Sorry, Miku."

"Right."

Eiji took off his blanket and rolled over to the side of Miku's bed, putting his feet on the floor and stretching. Then, he got up and started following Fuji out of the room.

As he crossed the threshold into the hall, he felt a blanket thrown on him and someone hugging him from behind.

"Thank you, Eiji," he heard Miku whisper. "I don't want to expose you to the virus anymore though." She laughed weakly.

"You're so welcome," Eiji replied, looking over his shoulder. "Glad I could help." He gave her a wind and a peace sign, which she returned, with a yawn and a cough.

"Bye," she said, waving, and Eiji tossed the blanket back and descended the stairs.

As soon as he was out of sight, Miku raced back to her room, buried her face in her pillow, and blushed the color of an overripe tomato. She'd have to find out from Fuji what had happened, but _Eiji_ had taken care of _her_. Was it possible that he-?

No. He would do the same for any of his friends. She knew what people acted like when the liked someone, and that wasn't it. No, he was just a nice guy who cared about those close to him. That's all.

She was going to have to tell him how she felt sometime soon…but how?

Miku just hoped that life wouldn't get any crazier.


	11. Games

**A/N: This is all I'm going to say: You are in for a surprise! I know I'm not very good at writing this kind of stuff, but hey, I shall try!**

**I AM COMMA HAPPY! :O**

**This chapter is dedicated to my 4 friends who I made into characters :D (Thanks to Cassidy, Helen, Elena, and Allie!)**

**Enjoy! And review, please!**

* * *

Chapter 11

Games

_Miku just hoped that life didn't get any crazier._

Too late.

It was a two weeks after Miku had gotten over her flu and a week after Eiji had gotten and gotten over it. When Miku was better, her mom still made her take medicine after her fever was gone completely. She'd called Eiji once when she was still on the stuff and was a bit high, asking him weird questions, such as "did you know that porcupines float in water?" and giggling uncontrollably when she did so.

Eiji had most of the same symptoms. He'd been delirious and seeing various UFOs, such as squirrels and cats, in his room. His fever hadn't gotten quite as high as Miku's, but it still was high enough that his over-worried mother called the doctor for advice. His siblings had teased and messed with him while he couldn't do anything and was too tired and sick to stop them.

But now, though, the regulars were back at Miku's house along with some of her friends from volleyball- plus Rei and Sakuno. Their names were Kiko Toyashimo, Sakura Nakashima, Amaya Yamasaki, Koemi Hashimoto, Chiya Takeda, and Yuki Kobayashi.

They had been playing games (but not Monopoly or Clue; Miku didn't want the mess that ensued last time) when someone had suggested a game.

That game was Spin the Bottle.

The instigator was Fuji.

With a wink and smile at Miku, of course, because that's how he rolls.

The rest of the group responded with gasps, open mouths, blank expressions (in the case of Tezuka), and sly smirks for the few that actually enjoyed this kind of thing.

Fuji held up an empty glass bottle and looked at the group with a raised eyebrow, silently saying "Anyone who walks away or refuses to play, I _will_ hit with this."

"F-Fujiko…" Eiji said sheepishly. Fuji looked over, his eyes open for once and his stare serious. Eiji "eep!"ed, but then continued shakily, "Where did you get that bottle? I never see you with a random bottle in your backpack or tennis bag… hold on, is that a wine bottle?"

"Saa." Fuji was suddenly smiling again.

"Fuji, are you seriously planning on using a wine bottle?" Miku asked.

"Saa."

Everyone apart from Fuji heaved a sigh.

"Whatever," Miku said, an uncertain expression on her face.

A closing door was heard, and Fuji ran out of the room, bottle in hand. An "Ow!" was heard from the hall, as well as the door closing again. He returned a few moments later with a stern Tezuka in tow, who was rubbing his head.

"Fuji…" Tezuka protested. "That hurt."

"Sit." Fuji commanded.

"I need asprin…" Tezuka mumbled, massaging his temple.

No one could argue with that. They all formed a circle and sat down. Fuji had to scramble them up so that there weren't a whole bunch of girls or boys sitting in a clump, and then he took his seat, placing the bottle in the center.

This was going to be awkward.

"Who wants to spin first?" Fuji asked politely. No one answered.

"Oh come on," he said. "Do I need to put on music for you guys?" No one responded again, so Fuji walked over to a CD player that hadn't been there before and turned on music.

The song "Kiss the Girl" from The Little Mermaid came on. Miku, Eiji, Koemi, and Kiko all started to laugh.

"Are you really going to make me spin first?" Fuji asked. "Okay then, here goes."

He spun the bottle. It revolved over and over…and then landed on Kiko. She blushed. She had a bit of a crush on him. Fuji rose, walked over, and offered his hand. Kiko took it, and stood to face him. Fuji pulled her close and gave her a romantic kiss. Pulling away, he whispered "I like you too," in her ear, so that no one else could hear. Kiko grinned, and gave him a happy hug.

They both returned to their seats, scooting back a bit so that they wouldn't get picked again. Everyone was blushing and looking at the floor, except Tezuka, who had found a book and was reading. He was rubbing his head a bit still. Miku wondered how hard Fuji hit him with the bottle…

"Next?" Fuji said encouragingly.

"I-I'll go," Rei ventured. She spun the bottle, biting her lip and hoping that she'd get Momo. However, the bottle landed on none other than Kaidoh, who was only two spots away from her desired target. Rei tried not to look too disappointed as she stood in front of Kaidoh and gave him a quick kiss. She returned to her seat, downcast.

Momo was furious. His arch rival had gotten the girl he wanted! Not fair! He glared at Kaidoh, who was blushing.

"I'll try next," Taka offered. Fuji nodded, and the former spun the bottle. He kept his eyes on it until it stopped, and then looked up. It had landed on Koemi. They met eyes and gave each other small smiles. They had established their mutual fondness for each other not too long ago, but weren't publicly known as a couple. That was probably about to change, knowing that Fuji was there.

They both stood up and moved away from the group a bit.

"Taka! Here!" Fuji threw a racket at Taka, which he caught, and his aura flared.

"KOEMI!" he yelled, grabbing her around her waist and giving her a "burning" kiss. Pulling away, Taka dropped the racket on accident, and they both laughed, returning to their spots.

"I'm going to call you Tokemi now, since it's your names combined," Fuji murmured to Koemi and Taka.

"I shall spin now," Inui said, adjusting his glasses and spinning the dark red bottle. It landed on Yuki. She blinked a few times, looking at Inui. Inui took off his glasses and placed them on his notebook next to his pencil. He leaned across the circle and gave a blushing Yuki a gentle kiss. Inui quickly returned to his spot, replaced his glasses, and started writing in his notebook. Yuki looked down at the floor, sad.

"Mada mada dane, Inui-senpai," Ryoma said. Inui wasn't paying attention. Ryoma moved to spin, but Fuji cut him off.

"Can I spin for you, please, Ryoma?" Fuji asked with a wink. Ryoma seemed to get the message, and nodded.

Fuji spun the bottle...and it landed on Sakuno. Fuji smiled at Ryoma, who had no problem giving his girlfriend a romantic kiss. Sakuno was beet red by the time Ryoma broke off, and they both returned to their seats, smiling.

"I'll try now," Miku said, starting the bottle in its pirouetting. It landed on Oishi… Wait, Oishi?

Miku did a triple take from the bottle to Oishi.

He smiled weakly at her.

Miku hid her disappointment completely behind a tiny smile, standing up.

Facing Oishi, she gave him a quick kiss and started to lean away, but he pulled her closer and unexpectedly deepened the kiss (on his end, anyway). Miku's eyes flashed open, and she froze. What the hell was he doing?

The others could only see Oishi's back, so they must've missed Miku's reaction…

Oishi pulled away, blinking at her, silently asking why she didn't respond, but Miku ignored him and walked back to her spot. She sat there, knees against her chest, and one hand over her mouth. Miku looked up. Oishi was just sitting down, blushing slightly, but then she saw Eiji. He was livid, and taking it all out soundlessly on Oishi, glowering in his doubles partner's direction.

"I…I'll go next," Amaya said shyly. She spun the bottle, and gasped when it stopped. Eiji glared at the bottle, trying to make it explode.

"Eiji…" Fuji said, urging his friend to go.

"Do I have to?" the redhead protested.

To this, a mug of God-knows-what was put in his face by Inui. "You don't kiss, you drink the Super Extra Special Inui Juice Remix."

Eiji swore under his breath, stood up, and walked over to Amaya, who stood up to face him. Eiji looked angrily at Oishi and Miku a few times, and then kissed Amaya passionately, to Miku's horror. Breaking off, he turned towards the group.

"I remembered that I have something important to do. Goodbye, everyone." He said, and stormed out.

There was silence. Miku pulled her legs closer and buried her face in them.

"Well, Tezuka, will you go next?" Fuji asked, giving him a look that said, "If you don't, I'll hit you with the bottle again."

Tezuka spun the bottle, and it landed on Sakura. She looked at him with her mouth slightly open.

Hang on, was that a smile? It was only there for a millisecond, but it was definitely there.

Tezuka motioned subtly for Sakura to sit next to him. She did so, and he took off his glasses. Tezuka started to kiss her, but people were pulling out video recorders and cameras from nowhere. So, he grabbed his book, hid their faces, and continued the kiss where no one could see. Keeping the book in place, he replaced his glasses, and he resumed his stoic, expressionless face. Sakura just leaned against his side, smiling faintly. He removed the book, and everyone in the group (that weren't busy being broody or sad) sighed with disappointment.

"Jeez, buchou," Ryoma said teasingly. "You're so boring."

"Bet you don't need asprin now," Fuji commented quietly. Sakura giggled. "Okay, who's last?"

He looked around. "Chiya-chan! Momo!" Fuji met eyes with Chiya's shy ones and Momo's angry ones.

Chiya looked at Momo sadly. She had a crush on Momo, but knew now that it wasn't shared. Momo leaned quickly over across to the blushing Chiya and gave her a quick yet gentle kiss, and returned to his silent abuse of Kaidoh.

"Saa, I think that's everyone," Fuji said, looking around to check that there weren't any people trying to escape. He chuckled. "What would you say if I told you I got that all on tape?"

"FUJI!" everyone shouted. Yes, even Tezuka.

Fuji just laughed at them all. "Just kidding, just kidding."

"Thanks for coming, guys," Miku said, trying to be as grateful as possible.

After that, people pretty much just came up with stupid excuses to escape the awkwardness of Miku's living room. They left in pairs, except for Oishi, Momo, and Kaidoh. In the end, the only ones that were left were Fuji and Miku. The latter was lying on a couch with her face in a pillow.

Miku sighed.

"What's up, Miku? You don't seem happy. It's about Eiji, isn't it?" Fuji asked.

"Stupid Oishi…" she mumbled over and over again, and punched the pillow a few times.

"I'm sorry Miku, I really meant for you two to get matched up... you could've asked me to spin for you like I did for Ryoma."

Silence.

"I'm going to take a _wild _guess here and say that you weren't kissing back."

"Of course I wasn't!" Miku almost shouted. "Sorry, I didn't mean to yell."

"It's okay. But we really need to do something about that Eiji… None of us could see you very well behind Oishi; he's bigger than you."

"I know…"

"Come on, Miku, he's probably just punching the stuffing out of his giant teddy bear at his house. He's a tough guy; he'll get over it pretty quick."

"I hope so too…" Miku sighed. Her eyes were slowly brimming with tears, which she tried to wipe away. "I hope he doesn't hate me…"

"Of course not. He li-" Fuji covered his mouth with his hand. Crap, he'd almost told her. "He… he really values you as a friend, Miku."

"That's it!" Miku actually yelled this time. "Fuji, I love him! That's not… not what I want…" She started to cry and buried her face back in the pillow.

Fuji sighed, sitting on the couch next to her, and rubbed her shoulder comfortingly. 'They better figure this out soon…' he thought.

* * *

Eiji had his face buried in his giant teddy bear. There were several stitches loose and stuffing was missing from his kicking and punching the plush toy.

'Eiji, you're such an idiot… you seriously had to get pissed and then kiss her like that?' he thought. 'You saw the look on Miku's face before you left!'

The other side of him countered, 'It's all Oishi's fault! The stupid bastard just HAD to go and kiss Miku like that!'

'You saw that she wasn't pleased with him!'

'Uh huh…'

Ugh… this was going to be a long night… not only was he insane and arguing with himself, he'd have his siblings coming in any minute now to see why he was making all that racket…

"EIJIII!"

"OTOUTO!"

And wha-la.

* * *

**A/N: God, I suck at this. Writing the kiss scenes, I mean.**

**AGAIN, REVIEWS ARE GREATLY APPRECIATED, ESPECIALLY FOR THIS CHAPTER.**

**What's going to happen? *sparkle sparkle* Keep reading and you'll find out!**

**I'll try to update soon! Thanks for reading.**


	12. Seigaku's Biggest Crisis

**A/N: Here's the new chapter! ;D Enjoy~ and comment please!**

**Eiji= 0:) Oishi= '*.*'~ (hehe jk jk)**

* * *

Chapter 12

Seigaku's Biggest Crisis

The two nights after the Spin the Bottle incident were rough for Eiji. He got about 5 hours total sleep… well, 5 hours the night of the episode and none the night after to be more exact.

It was now Monday, and Eiji gave up any hopes of sleeping by about 4 in the morning. He got up, put on his uniform, brushed his teeth, ect; just his normal morning routine. The only thing that was different was the time elapsed as he did said activities- it took him about 3x longer than it usually did, probably because his body was about 13 hours behind on sleep (give or take a few).

By the time he was finished with everything, it was 5:30, and he decided to walk to school. Yes, morning practice was an hour away, but it'd probably take him a half hour to get there and he could crash on a bench. Judging by his efforts to sleep the past two nights, however, that probably wouldn't work.

As he walked 1mph down the sidewalk, he passed Miku's house, and stopped, looking up at her window on the second story. She was probably still sleeping, though, so he continued on.

After walking for 10 minutes, though, he stopped and looked back. He didn't usually pass Miku's house on his way to school…

'CRAP! I'M GOING THE WRONG WAY!' His brain yelled, and he turned on his heel and picked up the pace…

…which meant him going now 2mph.

Upon arriving at school at 6:00, Eiji walked over to the tennis courts. He changed quickly in the club room after unlocking it, and then headed outside. Eiji looked around. He was still currently the only one there.

Eiji lay down on a bench, both hands behind his head, and sighed.

"Eiji?"

He bolted upright.

"Fujiko…!" He said.

Fuji was standing before him in his school uniform, looking confused.

"Eiji, are you okay? Your eyes are all red and you aren't usually here this early."

"I couldn't sleep. At all."

Fuji sighed. "Is this about Saturday?"

Eiji nodded, looking at the ground.

"I'll be right back; I'm going to go change."

Eiji nodded again, and lay back on the bench.

"KIKUMARU!"

Eiji bolted up from the bench once again. Tezuka was looking sternly at him.

"Twenty laps around the court for sleeping!"

Eiji obeyed, feeling slightly less tired now. At least he got about 20 minutes of sleep today.

The rest of the day, Eiji got in trouble at least once every class for dozing off. He got more and more irritated each time he had to wake up, because he didn't feel like paying attention at all today. Miku poked him with a pencil time and time again to wake him up so that the teacher didn't notice, but to no avail.

After school, Miku announced that she had volleyball practice today to Fuji and a sleeping Eiji. The latter was leaning against Fuji with his head on Fuji's shoulder, napping silently.

Just as practice was about to start and Miku was gone, Fuji shook Eiji to wake him up, but Eiji just fell backwards off the bench and woke himself, landing on his head.

"Owww, Fujiko!" the redhead complained. "Wait, where am I?"

"Tennis practice is about to start, Eiji." Oishi said, approaching the two.

Eiji looked up, and seeing Oishi, rose and walked, expressionless, to the tennis courts to start his warm ups. Oishi watched him go, and then looked at Fuji for some explanation. Fuji just shrugged, eyes open, and entered the courts, asking Taka to play a practice match with him as a warm up.

Oishi, not ready to give up yet, walked over to Eiji, who was standing on the sidelines of the court that Fuji and Taka were rallying on.

"Eiji, want to warm up with me in a practice match?" Oishi asked in a friendly tone.

"No." was his only answer.

"W-why not?" Oishi asked.

"Do you _seriously _have to ask that?" Eiji asked in a half angry, half surprised tone.

"Yeah, I do. Eiji, you're acting weird. What's the matter?"

"You're the matter!"

"Excuse me?"

"You bastard! You seriously had to go and kiss Miku like that?" Eiji yelled, not caring if other people were staring.

Oishi looked surprised for a moment, and then settled into a now angry expression.

"There was nothing that I could do. It was part of the game!"

"The hell! Ever heard of a quick kiss?"

"Of course I have."

"Oh, and I _love _how you completely DISCOUNTED the fact that I LIKE HER!"

Oishi didn't have anything to say to that. He looked at Eiji, who was glaring at him.

Eiji suddenly burst out laughing at Oishi, who was seriously confused.

"Oishi, since when do you wear your shirt inside out?" Eiji said, laughing.

That was it. Oishi cracked. He punched Eiji, sending the latter sprawling onto the ground.

"Maybe that'll knock some sense into your head, just like you wanted!" Oishi yelled.

Eiji, holding the right side of his face, looked up.

"You did _not_ just do that. You did _not_ just punch me in the face." Eiji growled, angry again.

"Oh yes I did." Oishi retorted.

"I am NEVER being on your doubles team again!"

"I don't WANT you on my doubles team!"

"Oh? Fighting on the courts?" the captain broke in. He'd obviously seen Oishi's act, but he was now close enough to break them up.

"Kikumaru, 50 laps! Oishi…" Tezuka looked slightly upset at having to say this. "100 laps."

Oishi looked shocked. "T-Tezuka…"

"Want 120?"

"Hai!"

Oishi started to run and noticed that Eiji had already been running for a minute or two. The black-haired ex-teammate, now back to his old self, tried to apologize several times, but Eiji ignored his efforts. Everyone else worried that their best doubles pair was going to break up for sure.

* * *

After practice, Eiji completely avoided Oishi and Fuji, and walked home by himself. He had almost reached his house when he heard his name being called. He turned, and saw Miku running to meet him.

She stopped, panting, and looked at Eiji.

"Oh my God," she said, her eyes wide. "Eiji what happened?"

"I… I got hit in the face." Now that he thought about it, he probably should've listened and accepted the apologies that Oishi kept making. Just as long as he didn't do it again…

"By what?"

"A-a tennis ball."

"Oh no! Did Taka or Momo hit it? That's horrible! I'm sure they didn't mean to."

"No, no, it's my fault for being in the way."

"You should put some ice on your eye. It's already turning purple."

"Seriously?"

"Yep. Need help?"

"No, I think my siblings will 'baby' me enough." He laughed weakly.

"Oh come on. I kinda want to meet them." She grabbed his wrist and started leading him inside.

"Miku! No!" Eiji tried to protest, as Miku reached for the doorknob. The front door was flung open, and Tatsuya stood in the doorway, grinning.

"Hi, Eiji's girlfriend!" he exclaimed, and Miku got tugged inside, along with Eiji.

Aya, Hikari, Tatsuya, and Daisuke all stood around Eiji and Miku, who were standing back to back.

"Hi, what's your name?" Hikari asked. "I'm Hikari! This is Aya, Tatsuya, and Daisuke." She gestured around the room.

"I'm Miku." Miku replied.

"Aww! They're holding hands!" Aya cried. Miku hurriedly dropped Eiji's wrist.

"Dude, Eiji, what happened to your _face_?" Daisuke asked, only slightly concerned. No need to not be rude here.

All of the siblings surrounded Eiji, looking at him. Miku took this chance to drag Eiji into the kitchen, look around, and find the refrigerator. She got him an ice pack and towel, and they quickly escaped to his room, locking the door.

Miku sat down on Eiji's floor with a sigh.

"Your siblings are insane." She said with a small laugh.

"I tried to warn you."

"Seriously, though, are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"Did you _really _get hit by a tennis ball?"

Eiji was taken aback by that question.

"Well?"

"No…"

"Then what?"

Eiji looked down at the floor.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"I think I can manage."

Eiji sighed. "Oishi."

"WHAT!"

"I told you."

"Where does he live? I have another thing to kill him for now."

"Whoa there," Eiji said. "He said he was sorry already."

"So?"

"Multiple times."

"Like _that _improves the situation."

"EIJI!" Daisuke was shouting through the door. "ARE YOU BEING SAFE?"

Eiji blushed crimson. "SHUT UP!"

Miku laughed so hard she fell over, and eventually Eiji joined in. His siblings were laughing too, on the other side of the door.

After a while of chatting, laughing, and Eiji convincing Miku not to murder Oishi in his sleep, Miku received a text from her mom.

"I have to go now, Eiji," Miku said. "Is there a way that I can escape without being ambushed?"

"There's my window, but the drop is still about 10 feet."

"Oh, that's easy. Bye!"

She opened the window, climbed out, and hung on the ledge by her hands. Then, she let go. Eiji ran to the window just in time to see her do a volleyball roll to stop her fall.

"Can you toss me my backpack?" she called. Eiji dropped it out the window.

"Sayonara!" she said, and took off towards her house.

Eiji watched her go, and then opened his door. Tatsuya tackled him.

"You've got a pretty fancy girlfriend, outouto!" he said excitedly. "She's cute, too!"

"She's not my girlfriend," Eiji said, trying to escape.

"Don't deny it!"

"Too late, I already did!"

Tatsuya picked Eiji up, and ran down the stairs, yelling, "Guys, Eiji's denying that Miku-chan is his girlfriend!"

"Help!"

* * *

**FYI: I REALIZE THAT OISHI DOESN'T USUALLY ACT LIKE THAT. But it fits, so there!**


	13. Hyoutei

**A/N: A new chapter is here! Thanks to minna who consistently read and/or comment!**

**Translation notes are at the bottom… and I'm sooo sorry it took so long to publish this chapter; I started high school and things got crazy! **

* * *

Chapter 13

Hyoutei

Miku was sitting quietly on a tree branch outside the tennis courts where Seigaku was going to play. She'd arrived two hours early, because somehow her alarm clock got messed up and she thought she was late, ironically. Since she was the only one there, she figured that she'd climb a tree and wait for someone else to come. While swinging her feet back and forth under her, she reviewed the past events.

Seigaku had played Yamabuki about a week ago, and won 3-2. Doubles 2, Fuji and Taka, had lost, but Doubles 1 and Singles 2 and 3 had all won.

Now it was time for the Kantou tournament finals, and Seigaku was facing Hyoutei, the team that beat them by just a bit last year. Fudomine, the school that Seigaku had beaten to win the prefectural tournament, had beaten Hyoutei in 3 quick matches, much to everyone's surprise. This was because not many of their regulars had been playing- only 1 person from the normal team competed that day.

But in these upcoming matches, the Hyoutei regulars would be playing full force. They were a good team, and Seigaku would have a tough time with them. Miku was confident that her team would win, though.

She sat where she was for another hour, mulling over her thoughts and chewing her gum contentedly. It was then that she spotted a person walking her way. He had grey, messy hair, and a Hyoutei uniform on. As he got closer, she found that she recognized the boy.

"Choutarou-chan!" she cried, grinning. Choutarou Ootori looked up to where she was on the tree branch. Recognition crossed his face, and he smiled shyly at the old nickname.

"Miku-san," he greeted her, walking over. Miku jumped down from the tree branch and gave her old friend a hug. They sat on the grass on the side of the brick walkway, talking.

"How have you been? I haven't seen you since…when was it…?" Miku asked.

"Probably about 6th grade," the Hyoutei regular answered, trying to remember.

"Well, sixth grade for me, at least. You're a second year now, am I correct?"

Choutarou nodded, and he sighed. "Being a regular at Hyoutei is hard."

"I bet. I've heard the stories… like the ones where if you lose once you're off the regulars permanently…"

"Well, those are true."

Miku laughed, and said, "Well, I'm glad to see you haven't lost yet."

Choutarou smiled back. "So how have you been?"

"Pretty good, thanks. I'm still playing volleyball."

"Oh, really?"

"Yep! My team is really good!"

"Miku?"

Miku and Ootori looked up.

"Fuji," she greeted him with a smile.

"Consorting with the enemy?" he teased. Choutarou just looked from Miku to Fuji, confused.

"Oh, Choutarou-chan, this is Syuusuke Fuji. You'll be playing him. Maybe not personally, but you get the picture." Miku explained.

"Ah, wakata, wakata," Choutarou said, nodding.

"So how do you two know each other?" Fuji asked, sitting down on Miku's other side.

"We went to school together through sixth grade," Miku answered for both of them. And then to Choutarou, she continued, "But I didn't know you went to Hyoutei, though."

"My parents wanted me to go there," Ootori said, subconsciously playing with his cross necklace. "It's also really close to my house, so I walk to school every day."

"Ootori!"

The trio looked up. A guy with silver hair was leading his team towards the courts. Beside him were a monkey-looking boy, who was huge, and a tall, thin guy with short, brown hair and a light blue baseball cap. Behind them, there were 3 other males. One had fluffy, orange-brown hair and a sleepy expression on his face. He yawed every minute or so. The one in the middle had dark magenta hair and a determined expression on his face, making him look slightly crazy. His haircut was… odd; it came to a point in the middle of his forehead, and was a bob otherwise. The boy on the end had shoulder length dark blue hair and round glasses. He was smiling confidently.

"Ootori, come warm up. The matches will start soon," the one with the silver hair said.

"Hai, Atobe-san." Choutarou nodded, and joined the group. Miku and Fuji watched them leave, and then Miku said, "The air around them is stiff. The program must be very strict there."

"It is," Fuji agreed.

"Hoi! Fuji! Miku!" Eiji scampered up to his classmates with a smile on his face. "What's up?" He offered his hands to Miku and Fuji, and they took the favor and stood up. Eiji looked over to his left. "What were _they _talking to you guys for?" He asked in slight disdain.

"I know one of the teammates," Miku explained.

"Which one, nya?"

"Ootori Choutarou."

"Really?" Eiji was surprised. "I want to play him! I'm just glad it's not Atobe though… I'd have to disown you."

"What? Why?" Miku asked, confused.

Eiji and Fuji looked at each other. "You'll find out later," Fuji said. "Believe me, it won't take long." Eiji accompanied this statement with an eye roll.

"Kikumaru! Fuji!" Coach Ryuzaki called, and Miku saw that the team was mostly present. The trio went to join the group.

"Where's Oishi?" Eiji asked anyone who'd answer, looking around. "He's usually one of the first ones here."

"I don't know," the coach said, a worried expression on her face. Then, she spotted Tezuka walking over to the group. "Any news?"

Tezuka's normally expressionless face was, as usual, expressionless.

"He is at the hospital helping a pregnant woman who is about to have a baby," Tezuka explained. "He encountered her while walking over here."

"If it's Oishi, it's got to be true," Taka said. Everyone agreed.

(Earlier in the tournament, Ryoma was late and made this same excuse. No one believed him.)

"I'll go get him! If I run, he should be able to make it back!" Momo, who wasn't currently a regular, volunteered.

"Okay, but hurry!" Coach Ryuzaki said, looking at her watch. Momo sprinted off.

A while later, Tezuka got another call, and he, Eiji, and the rest of the regulars, along with Miku, all went to the steps in front of the gate. When they saw Momo, he was panting from running all the way there and back.

"Momo, hurry up!" Eiji called to him. "There's only 3 minutes left to sign in!"

Momo walked with the rest of the group over to sign in, and then to the tennis courts to be briefed on the upcoming matches. He walked over to Eiji.

"Eiji-senpai," he said with a grave expression. "Oishi-senpai's wrist is-"

"I know, I know," Eiji said. "It's broken. Tezuka told me." Miku looked over in shock. Well, maybe now she wouldn't have to hire an assassin. They were expensive, anyway.

"Oishi-senpai says sorry."

Eiji smiled and shrugged. "It's no big deal. We're going to win anyway, right Momo?"

"Eh?"

"You're on the doubles 2 team with me, nya!"

Momo was astonished, to say the least.

"Momo! Eiji! Go Seigaku!" Miku cheered in response to the Hyoutei supporters' cheer of "They winner will be Hyoutei! The winner will be Hyoutei! The loser will be Seigaku! The loser will be Seigaku!"

Momo and Eiji weren't doing so well. They were playing the guy with the pink triangle hair who was crazy, Gakuto Mukahi, and the guy with blue hair and glasses, Yuushi Oshitari. Since Eiji's normal partner, Oishi, had gotten switched with Momo before the match, Eiji didn't really know how to work with a new cohort. Also, his acrobatics had been sealed by the other team, as well as Momo's special shots.

Eiji somehow had an inspiration in the fifth game, when Seigaku was down 4-0, and he was revived a bit, playing his acrobatic tennis more and scoring more points. It was then that the pair used Eiji and Oishi's usual formation- the Australian Formation. It was very difficult to master, especially in the middle of the match (for Momo), but they pulled it off well and scored quite a few points from just that formation. Eiji stayed in the back to support Momo, and even used Oishi's signature shot- the moon volley. It involves a high lob dropped with pinpoint accuracy, usually to the back line.

Eiji and Momo tied the opponent at 4 games, and had the momentum of the match. Then, Eiji and Momo put their hands out in fists- not to each other, but out to the stands. Almost everyone looked where they were pointing.

A tall guy with raven-colored hair, weird bangs, and a wrapped wrist stood there in a blue uniform, fist out in a sign of victory.

The Seigaku team, apart from Tezuka, Inui, and Ryoma, grinned and/or sighed with relief. On the Hyoutei side, the multitude of cheerers was silent, and the silver haired captain was analyzing the match.

'So this isn't a regular doubles match…' Keigo Atobe thought. 'Doubles for three people, eh?'

In the end, ending with a faux smash preceding the actual one, Eiji and Momo pulled through to win the game 6-4. Everyone thought that Momo was going to hit his favorite smash, but Eiji jumped up behind him and scored the winning point.

The two teams shook hands, and then Momo and Eiji ran to the stands, grinning and cheering. Oishi congratulated the pair.

"You did really well for a first time, Momo!" Eiji said excitedly, slapping his partner on the back.

"Yeah, if it were us, we probably couldn't have won," Oishi said with a laugh. "Who's next?"

Inui, setting down his notebook and pencil and picking up his racket, entered the tennis courts with Kaidoh, who had just finished a warm-up run. They both wore determined looks on their faces.

Their opponents were the guy with short brown hair and the blue hat, and Choutarou-chan. Miku didn't know who to cheer for…

"Good luck, Choutarou-chan!" she yelled at him, waving. Both the Seigaku and Hyoutei regulars looked at her like she was crazy, but Miku ignored them. Her friend on the court waved back with a smile. "You too, Inui-san and Kaidoh-kun!"

The game progressed with Choutarou showing his 300mph serve, which Inui and Kaidoh couldn't return. When Inui was up to serve next, however, he gave it right back to them after taking off his wrist weights. Kaidoh ended up perfecting his boomerang snake, a shot that went around the poles that hold the net on the tennis courts, and sometimes even through the referee's chair.

After a while, Kaidoh started playing by himself, while Inui didn't help at all. The Hyoutei team was winning point after point, while Kaidoh was playing 2-on-1.

When the game count was at 5-0, Kaidoh was breathing quickly and sweating profusely. The other team was _really _good.

"Did you get all the data you needed?" Kaidoh asked his partner.

"Yes, perfectly," Inui answered simply.

In the game following, Inui started his data tennis, predicting all of the opponents' shots- and returning Ootori's serve in the process.

After Inui scored a great point on a smash, the game count was 5-4. But, to everyone's surprise, he walked over to the referee, who checked the spot that the tennis ball made on the court.

"Sure enough, it's out… Everyone! We will reset the score to 40-15!" the ref informed the crowd.

In the end, Ootori and his teammate Shishido pulled through to win, 6-4. So both Hyoutei and Seigaku both had one win and one loss now.

Miku told the doubles team that they did a good job, and waved at Choutarou as he passed, running to cool down.

Taka stood and faced his team. He wasn't currently holding a racket, obviously.

"If we lose here, the third years are done, right?" he said. He then picked up the Seigaku flag next to him that Momo brought with one hand, waving it around so that the symbol on it was visible for all to see and the flag billowed out in the wind.

"Taka-san!" Momo was astonished. "It's too heavy! Are you sure you've got it?"

Taka smiled and nodded. On the Hyoutei side, the big monkey man was carrying a sleeping teammate by his jacket- also with one hand.

The match began in due time, and Taka started out at serve. His obnoxiousness and yelling hadn't even fazed his opponent slightly, much to the disappointment of Taka's team.

All of Taka's strong shots were easily returned by his challenger with just as much force, sometimes more, pushing Taka back.

After a short while, though, Taka used his signature move- the Hadokyuu. It was an extremely strong shot that was usually hit with one hand, but Taka used two hands to lessen the strain on his wrist, making him able to hit it repeatedly. Time after time, that shot knocked the racket out of Taka's opponent, Kabaji's hand.

In the third game, when Taka hit yet another Hadokyuu, Kabaji surprised everyone. Well, everyone except his team members that is.

As Taka's shot came to the monkey man, he returned the Hadokyuu- with another Hadokyuu.

After a while of this, as Taka was being pushed back again with Kabaji's efficient play style, the monkey man was catching up. Tied at 2 games each, the pressure was on. A duel of Hadokyuu had begun- and one handed Hadokyuus at that.

"Taka-san!" Coach Ryuzaki was shouting from the bench. "Don't do this! You'll never be able to play tennis again!"

"I don't care!" Taka yelled, hitting another one of his signature shots.

Back on the sideline, Miku was watching the ensuing fiasco with a worried expression. She turned to Fuji, who was pretty good friends with Taka.

"Fuji, what's going on? Why doesn't he stop?" Miku asked him.

"Taka isn't going to play tennis after high school. He's going to train to be a sushi chef to carry on the family business." Fuji said this in a grave tone. "But no matter if we win this or not, he'll still have to continue to the nationals with us."

Miku looked back to the game, biting her lip.

The duel was still going on; a continuous stream of Hadokyuu. It persisted for a long time…

"AAAAHH!"

Miku's head snapped over to Kabaji. The tennis ball was lying next to the net on his side of the court. His racket dropped out of his hand with a loud clatter.

"I can't hit anymore," the monkey man said. His right hand was bloody; as was his racket grip.

Another sound was heard from Taka's side of the court.

"I can't continue either," he admitted, holding his wrist.

"Since both players can't continue, Singles 3 is considered a null match." The referee announced. These were probably the most amazing matches he'd ever judged.

Inui and Momo helped Taka back to the bench, and Fuji carried his racket back, examining it.

"Taka." The tall brunette turned to face Fuji. "Can I use this racket?"

Taka nodded confusedly, and resigned his wrist and hand to be checked by Inui and Coach Ryuzaki. As Fuji walked to the tennis courts, the Coach stood to address certain persons.

"Taka-san, I'm going to take you to the hospital now. Sorry, but you can't watch the next matches; we need to have a surgical doctor look at it as soon as possible." She turned to face the Hyoutei bench. "Is it okay to take Kabaji-kun with us?"

Atobe, who to Miku seemed the monkey man's "master", considered this, and then said, "Go, Kabaji." Kabaji just replied, "Usu," and followed Coach Ryuzaki out of the courts.

Through all of this, Fuij was standing on the court by himself, calmly smiling. Not watching anyone, not looking around for his next opponent; probably off in his own little world plotting diabolical schemes.

"Jirou! Get up! It's your turn!" someone over on the Hyoutei side yelled.

The boy with orange-brown hair, who was lying face down on the bleachers, stirred and yawned. Shishido and Oshitari and Shishido picked Jirou up by the scruff of his jacket, setting him on his feet unsteadily.

"What…? What's going on?" the guy named Jirou said sleepily.

The Hyoutei captain sighed. In a commanding voice, he ordered, "Akutagawa, get on the court. **Now**."

Jirou stumbled over, his slumber still evident in the way he was trying to get to the courts as fast as he could.

Miku cheered loudly for Fuji, as his opponent finally came out to face him. Ryoma took the job of bench coach, much to the surprise of Eiji and Momo, who tried to remove him by pulling him backwards over the short fence by his jacket. Tezuka and Fuji intervened without any physical motion.

_Fuji, how about going all out for once?_

Coach Ryuzaki's words echoed through Fuji's head as he walked back to the serving line. He bounced the tennis ball three times, and took a deep breath, looking across the net over at his opposition. The tensai held his racket low, and raised his arm to head height, tennis ball in hand. He dropped the ball, giving it an intense spin, and swung the racket quickly upward. The serve bounced over to Jirou, who readied himself to return it, suddenly not sleepy anymore. The latter swung through, hitting air.

"That ball will disappear," Fuji said mysteriously, with the hint of sadism that was almost always there.

Everyone looked for the ball, which was rolling away from Jirou on the ground behind him.

All of the people present and watching were stupefied (yes, even Tezuka, Atobe, and Ryoma). They turned to their neighbors with wide eyes, discussing and praising the amazing "disappearing serve."

Jirou was staring at Fuji with his mouth hanging open, shocked speechless. Then, recovering a bit, he blinked, and looked around at the crowd.

"No way! Did you see that?" he shouted, practically jumping up and down. The Hyoutei members, who had recovered by now, rolled their eyes and looked away. But Jirou just ran over to the bench where his teammates were seated, yelling. "Atobe! Atobe! That guy's really good!"

"I told you already. Were you still sleeping?" his teammate covered his face with one hand dramatically and shook his head.

Fuji used one disappearing serve after another to win his game. In Jirou's service game, he tried to serve and volley, but Fuji hit shots toward his feet. In what seemed like an accident, Jirou perfectly returned Fuji's attempts with volleys that the latter couldn't return. The Hyoutei member held his service game. The tensai struck again, and the score was 2-1. Then, he announced and started using his third triple counter- hakugei. (White Whale) The other two were Tsubame Gaeshi (Swallow Return) and Higuma Otoshi (Bear Drop). Jirou was no match for it, and neither were any of the people in the stands, who were utterly shocked at the turn of events.

When Fuji hit a Hakugei, the ball would go towards the opponent, then hop up, landing at the baseline. After all this, the tennis ball returned back to its master, the tensai, in two bounces over the net.

Fuji dominated the rest of the game, and won 6-1, much to Hyoutei's disappointment. The brunette returned to the Seigaku bench, barely sweating, and smiling as always, with his eyes closed. And since he wasn't all sweaty, Miku congratulated Fuji with a hug. Breaking away, Fuji turned to his brother, who was sitting about 10 seats up.

"Yuuta, were you watching?" the tensai asked with a slightly sadistic smile. Yuuta flinched, protesting, and Fuji laughed.

Singles 3 was next, and Tezuka was in the courts already; no flashy performance needed there. But it was the opposite for his opponent, who was sauntering onto the court.

"You haven't gotten weaker, have you, Tezuka?" Atobe said in his smooth voice, and with a flip of his hair. He raised his hand to the sky in a fist in one swift movement, and the Hyoutei cheering squad of over two hundred people started to cheer.

"The winner will be Hyoutei! The winner will be Hyoutei!"

"The losers will be Seigaku! The losers will be Seigaku!"

Atobe put his hand on his heart melodramatically.

"The winner will be Atobe! The winner will be Atobe!"

"The loser will be Tezuka! The loser will be Tezuka!"

The Seigaku regulars and supporters were silenced. You couldn't top that.

"The winner will be-"

"Me."

Atobe quickly brought his right hand to the sky again, snapping to cut off the cheer, and making a #1 sign with his hand as he said this. He grabbed the right side of his collar, rapidly and gracefully removing his jacket, sending it into the stands. He probably thought someone would be honored to have it.

Miku turned to Fuji with an eye roll. "Hey Fuji." The tensai turned, and Miku gestured to Atobe. "Is he gay? He's flamboyant enough."

Fuji covered his mouth, chuckling silently but almost uncontrollably. He answered finally, still laughing a bit, "No. At least, I don't _think _so…" They both turned back to the game.

Tezuka and Atobe were shaking hands at the net.

"Are you done?" Tezuka asked politely.

"Yeah, I'm satisfied." His opponent answered.

'It's about time,' thought Miku.

The match started, with Atobe at serve. After just one point, the Hyoutei captain said, with extreme showiness, "_Be intoxicated with my beautiful skills."_

Tezuka started using his Tezuka Zone, a technique that he used that allowed all of the opponent's shots to return back to him. He didn't move from one spot, and a circle in the ground around him was forming.

The game went on and on, and long rallies between the two players ensued. It was a while before Fuji had a eureka moment.

"He's purposely trying to make the match long," he murmered. Taka, Miku, and Eiji, who were surrounding him, all looked over at the brunette. Inui just nodded once and adjusted his glasses.

"What do you mean, Fujiko?" Eiji asked, confused.

"Atobe is purposely trying to make the match long. He _knows_. About Tezuka's elbow, I mean."

"What's wrong with Tezuka-san's elbow?" Miku asked. She hadn't heard about this.

"Buchou's elbow was hurt a while ago, and he couldn't play for a while. But, as you can see, he's back now." Momo was suddenly present and explaining.

The five players all looked back to the game, worried. Miku was still a bit foggy on all of the information.

"Ano, Fuji, what happens if this match is drawn out too long?" She asked.

"Tezuka's elbow will most likely give out," Fuji answered, a slightly pained expression showing on his face. "And if he's being careful about his elbow and wrist, he's putting more strain on his shoulder, and in the end that might yield to the pressure first, before the others. Hopefully, though, he'll end it before that can happen. But that Atobe… He plans on crushing Tezuka's arm in a drawn-out match."

Despite the Seigaku team's wishes, the game drew out longer and longer, extending to two hours of total play. At this time, Tezuka was at match point, and the game count was 6-5 with Tezuka at advantage.

"One more point! One more point!" the Seigaku cheerers were chanting, grins on their faces.

Tezuka, aiming for a strong serve to finally win the game, tossed the tennis ball up into the air. Leaning back to hit it, he cried out, falling on the ground and grabbing his shoulder.

"TEZUKA?"

Shouts rang out from all sides of the stadium, some people standing up in shock, and in some cases, horror. People from the Seigaku bench came flooding over, yelling questions regarding his arm.

"Go back!"

The group stopped moving. Their captain was speaking.

"Don't…come here!" Tezuka ordered. "The match…" he flinched, grabbing his racket and standing up with great effort. "…is not yet over."

The Seigaku captain labored his way over to the bench, and the flood of people returned back to their area. But the regulars still showered him with questions and comments. Most of them went like this:

"Buchou, you can't continue like this!"

"Your arm won't be able to recover if you go on!"

"The probability of you winning is exceedingly low…"

"Any further play is extremely dangerous!"

Despite the protests, Tezuka stood up and started walking back to the court. Oishi ran quickly in front of him, arms spread wide. The captain stopped his advance in front of his fukubuchou.

"Oishi…"

"You know this is dangerous."

A nod answered.

"But…just trying to fulfill your promise to take Seigaku to the nationals won't be enough. We can't do it without you." Oishi sighed. "Good luck."

Tezuka showed one thousandth of a smile, and passed his teammate with a fist bump. Oishi went back to the bench, already starting to regret his decision and starting to worry.

The game went on some more, Tezuka's face telling the story of the pain he experienced as he tried to go on. Eventually, in a tie break at 6-6, the point total was 36-35, and then one finally pulled through to win.

That person was Atobe.

Both players walked to the net, panting. Tezuka reached out his right arm to shake hands, and Atobe promptly grabbed his hand and held it up in a very showy way. Cheers were screamed and shouted from all sides of the court and its surroundings, and the applause reverberated through the entire arena.

"Wait, what happens now?" Miku shouted over the din at Fuji while clapping. "The game count is two each."

"You'll see!" he yelled back.

Well, _that _didn't help any.

When the tumult was finally calm, and both Atobe and Tezuka were back to their benches, Tezuka getting his wrist, shoulder, and elbow bones checked and Atobe ordering people to get him a towel and water, the referee got down from his chair to make an announcement.

"Because both teams are tied at two games," he said, "the sixth match will be a singles match between the reserve players."

Ryoma stepped on the court, and handily beat his opponent 6-4 after switching to his stronger left hand and bringing out all of his signature plays. He still wasn't quite satisfied with the win, though, being Ryoma.

Miku made her way over to the Hyoutei bench and to her friend Choutarou.

"Hey, Choutarou-chan," she tried, to get his attention. The silver haired guy looked up from putting his racket away.

"Hey, Miku-san." He swung his bag up and onto his shoulder. "What's up?"

"Well, I came over to tell you a few things. Firstly, I was wondering if you wanted to hang out Saturday, and secondly, great game!" She grinned at this last part.

Since she spoke so fast, and Choutarou was having a hard time trying to figure out the first thing she said, Miku reiterated for him.

"Oh, I get it now," he said, comprehension crossing his face. "I'm pretty sure I'm free Saturday. Where did you want to meet?"

"You know that old park by my house that we used to play at? It has a lot of stores and restaurants nearby, so I think there would work the best."

"Okay. So, what time?"

"Is Ootori going on a date?"

Miku and Choutarou turned, and the latter blushed. Atobe was standing there, one hand on his hip and the other fixing his hair.

"Miku-chan, ne?" Atobe asked.

"Okay, if you just got here, how do you know my name?" Miku asked indignantly. "And since when am I '-chan'?"

"So rude! Ore-sama knows everyone's name," the Hyoutei captain was astonished. "How can such a _beautiful _girl be so uncouth?"

Miku rolled her eyes and turned back to Choutarou, who was looking back and forth between Atobe and his friend.

"How about 2 pm?" she asked.

"T-that would work," Choutarou answered, again subconsciously playing with his cross necklace.

"Ootori, you should ask ore-sama before you go on a date," Atobe interjected, looking hurt.

"Shut up. You aren't 'ore-sama' anyway." Miku turned her back on Atobe, who turned to Kabaji for help, asking, "Ore-sama is beautiful, ne Kabaji?"

"I'll see you Saturday," Miku said to Choutarou with a smile, and starting to walk away. She passed Oshitari, a Hyoutei team member, who was eyeing her curiously.

"I'm impressed. Not many girls would turn down Atobe-san like that," he said, and Miku walked quicker back to where she thought Fuji, Eiji and co were.

Outside the courts, Eiji was observing the entire scene. And peeved, too. What was that Atobe moron thinking, hitting on _his _Miku? And she was going on a _date_? And with the guy who beat his teammates, nonetheless.

Eiji gripped the fence as hard as he could, trying as hard as he could not to kick a hole through the screen. He sighed.

"Eiji, what are you doing?" Fuji was standing beside him.

"Fujiko, Miku is going on a date!"

"Oh really? With whom?"

"Ootori."

"That was a bitter tone. But really, you're moody today. Is it that time of the month already?"

"FUJIKO! SHUT UP!"

"Heh… I was right." Fuji chuckled. After a while, Eiji had to give in and laugh along with him.

Eiji stopped laughing first, and went back to gripping the fence extremely hard and staring at the tennis court. Fuji looked at his friend and sighed.

"Eiji, how long are you going to stare at the court? It never did anything to you. And if you hold onto the fence any longer, your fingernails are going to draw blood."

Eiji quickly let go, suddenly realizing the pain in his palms. He stood in one spot, zoning out on nothing in particular.

"Fuji?"

"Yeah?"

"I think I'm going to follow them."

"Choutarou-san and Miku?"

"Duh. Who else?"

"Do you really think that's a good idea?"

"No..."

It was quiet for a few seconds.

"…but I'm going to do it anyway."

"You're helpless."

"I know."

They both picked up their bags in no particular hurry, and left the arena in silence.

* * *

**A/N: Okay, some translations-**

**Ano-Um (pretty much)**

**Buchou-captain**

**Fukubuchou-vice captain**

**Wakata-(I understand [informal], wakarimasu is the formal version)**

**Ne? - right?**

**And I'm pretty sure ore-sama means king, but I'll check up on that**

**Once I translate once, I'm not translating again, so refer back if you need to**

**THE NEXT CHAPTER IS GONNA BE GOOD! I WILL TRY TO POST SOON! :D AU REVOIR!**


	14. Date?

**A/N: Ohayo minna! **

**This chapter is going to be first-person for Miku and Eiji, so don't get confused! **

**Enjoy and comment onegaishimasu!**

* * *

Chapter 14

Date?

-MIKU POV-

I was most likely going to be late for meeting Choutarou-chan, so I was in a hurry. I ran down the stairs and out the door, but not before my mom yelled from another room, asking where I was going.

"I'm going to the park!" I shouted back. She probably wouldn't remember who Choutarou was, so I didn't bother telling her.

I grabbed my bike and rode as fast as I could to the park. A few times, I heard someone behind me, but there was no one there.

Upon arriving at the park, I locked my bike up on the bicycle stand and started to look for my friend. Spotting him nearby, I headed over. He was leaning against a tree, arms crossed against his chest and a vacant expression on his face.

"Choutarou-chan?" I said, getting his attention.

"Miku-san," he replied, his eyes lighting up as he recognized me.

"Did you have lunch yet?"

"No, I got here early. You?"

"No, I'm starving! I was so busy getting ready it completely slipped my mind!"

"Where should we go? I don't exactly know this area…" Choutarou looked around.

"There's a burger joint around the corner," I suggested. This wasn't a "date", so it didn't need to be fancy.

"Works with me," my friend answered with a smile.

We walked to the restaurant, chatting about old times the entire way and laughing. I paid for the food, being more forceful than my passive friend.

After lunch, we visited some stores, and Choutarou talked me into letting him buy something for me, since I bought lunch. That something was a mood ring, complete with a silver design on the outside and instructions. Once I put it on my ring finger of my right hand, it turned yellow, which according to the directions meant that I was happy.

Since my friend had indulged me in visiting my favorite boutiques and venues with me, I showed him a top-of-the-line sports store that could fit a king. Or Atobe, if I'm feeling specific.

After all of this it was 3:17 PM, and the two of us headed back to the park and sat side by side under a giant weeping willow and chatted more about "the days."

Silence followed a recollection of a favorite story in sixth grade (for me) when I had to borrow some of Choutarou's PE clothes because I had forgotten mine, and since he was still way taller than me back then, they were HUGE on me. We both just stared up to the sky, which could be seen in blots through the green and brown tree leaves and branches.

The still and quiet moment went on for about five minutes, and then Choutarou-chan spoke up.

"Miku-chan."

Now there's a surprise. He never called anyone 'chan' unless… well, he never used it at all.

"What?" I said, somewhat suspiciously.

"T-there's a bug in your hair."

Random. But-

Oh shit.

"A bug? Choutarou-chan, can you-"

"Yeah, hang on, I'll get it. Hold still."

He leaned closer, eyes fixated on the cause of the problem at hand, and tongue slightly sticking out of the corner of his mouth. I just sat there, turned towards him, trying not to move. He gently plucked the insect out of my hair, but seriously, it took him _forever_.

"Got it," he said, somewhat triumphantly, holding the squirming creepy-crawly in his pointer finger and thumb tips. It was pretty small. "Only a centipede."

"What? I hate centipedes! That's…that's…" I shivered. "Disgusting."

He laughed, and tossed the bug far away. We went back to staring at the treetops, silence enveloping us once again.

"M-Miku?"

Whoa. Since when did he call me that?

"What is it?" I asked, looking over. His face was serious, and his dark brown eyes looked into mine.

"Can I tell you something? Please?"

"Yeah..."

He took a deep breath.

"I love you, Miku."

I hoped I didn't look as shocked as I felt at the moment.

"You...do?"

"Yeah." He laughed weakly. He was blushing, which turned his cheeks a light pink. "For a long time now. You wouldn't believe how much I've missed you these past few years."

"Choutarou-chan, I like you too," I started, and then sighed. In a quieter voice, I continued, "But not like that. I'm really sorry. But I missed you too, if it makes you feel better." I gave him a small smile, but inside I felt so guilty...

"Can I still call you just Miku?" Choutarou asked hopefully.

"Of course! But you'll always be little Choutarou-chan to me." We both laughed, mine more cheerful than his.

An awkward moment followed, as did silence.

"Would… would it be possible for you to tell me who you like instead?" he asked, the corner of his mouth turned up in a smile.

I looked down at my hand, the mood ring now a blue-green, but more blue tinted than not. I remembered from the directions that green was stressed and blue was sad.

"Eiji Kikumaru." I said in a quiet voice.

Choutarou's shoulders slumped visibly.

"Well, if he's ever… you know, mean or anything, I'll come and hurt him for you," my friend said, and when I looked at him I could tell that he was serious. I also knew that in normal situations, he wouldn't hurt a fly, but when it concerned his friends, he'd be very nasty to the cause of his buddy's stress.

I laughed nervously, saying "I-I don't think that'll be necessary. Thanks, though, Choutarou-chan." I gave him a hug, and when I pulled away, he was looking away to try to hide his blush.

"I have to go now," Choutarou said sadly, standing up to his full height, which was very tall. "You know, for piano and violin practice. Thanks for today. See you around, Miku."

My friend walked away, a by no means happy expression on his face, but a swift pace carried him away all the same. His fingers ruffled his grey, messy hair every once in a while as he traveled farther and farther from me.

I sighed, and decided that I should probably be heading home, too. I picked up all of my bags carrying things I had bought today, and started home.

* * *

-EIJI POV-

I sat in a tree that only an acrobat could've climbed and was completely silent. I was wearing a dark green sweatshirt and pants of the same hue that I'd borrowed from Tatsuya. They were huge on me, so I had to wear a belt, and since I never wore a belt, I borrowed one from Aya. Consequently, it was pink, so I pulled my sweatshirt over it and didn't reach my arms above my head.

There was an extremely leafy branch hiding me, but I could still see my targets clearly through the foliage.

Ootori and Miku were sitting side by side (a little too close for my comfort) on the grass about ten feet away from the base of the tree I hid in, and were facing away from me and to the right. They were talking animatedly, but I couldn't quite make out everything they said. Something about sixth grade and Miku borrowing her so-called "Choutarou-chan's" clothes…

Hold on, intimate much? Just how long had they been going out?

My attention was brought back to the pair below when Ootori leaned closer to Miku and…

…kissed her.

That was definitely a kiss, accompanied by Ootori lightly running his fingers through Miku's chestnut-colored hair. My new enemy pulled away with a smile, and said something that I couldn't hear. I looked away and tried to resist the urge to tackle Ootori from above and make his life completely miserable.

"M-Miku?" Ootori's voice drifted up from below, and I tilted my head to the left to hear better.

"What is it?"

"Can I tell you something? Please?"

"Yeah..."

Ootori took a deep breath.

"I love you, Miku."

That was it. I couldn't stand this any longer. I jumped out of the tree, landing softly on the ground, and sprinted home.

As soon as I was safely in my room, sitting on my bed and staring vacantly at nothing, I reviewed the events of the past day. Pretty typical date; meal together, then shopping and all that crap. But then there was the park incident, which I wouldn't ever be able to forget. Why hadn't Miku said something? Why hadn't _Fuji_ said something?

_Miku, despite what happened today, it's impossible to be mad at you… _

_Ootori really pisses me off, though…_

_Is this what a heartache feels like? I've heard about them in the sappy romance novels that my sisters read, but never from firsthand experience…_

_The pain is worse than when I broke my arm when I was three…_

_I guess I'll have to call you Miku-chan again, now…_

Eiji sighed, and a single tear ran down his face as he looked out the window.

_Miku-chan, did it hurt when you fell from heaven?_

* * *

**Well, did you like it?**

**I'm not telling where I got the last line from, but it's not mine.**

**Yeah, it's a shorter chapter, but since 13 was really long I have to make this one shorter to compensate...**

**Kinda OCD that way...or CDO for all yall who're really uber specific out there...**

**What will happen now! Dun Dun Duuuunnnn...**

**A bientot!**

**-the author ;)**


	15. Bonus

**A/N: Here's a bonus chapter to create a bit of suspense and to have some fun! For this chapter, you have to imagine everyone in chibi form.**

Bonus Chapter

Inui's Juice Strikes Again!

Miku was sitting outside the tennis courts of Seigaku and waiting for her friends to finish changing. But what worried her was that Inui had brought a huge jug full of… something… that he planned on giving to the regulars. From what Miku had seen of the liquid dripping onto the ground, it was a kind of greenish, greyish, brownish, purplish mixture, and it made her stomach twist just looking at it.

What also worried her was that it was taking way longer than usual for the team to change…

Suddenly, what seemed like a smoke bomb exploded, and black clouds came pouring out of the clubhouse. Miku covered her mouth and nose, coughing. The smell was terrible!

As the smoke cleared, something very _odd_ took place. Out of the clubhouse came a dancing and grinning Tezuka, a malicious-looking Oishi, an obnoxious and non-racket-holding Taka, a sullen and depressed Eiji, a pissed off Fuji (eyes open), a timid and scared Inui, a cheery Ryoma and… oh God. The last two, Momo and Kaidoh, came skipping out the clubhouse door, holding hands. Miku wandered over to Fuji for some explanation.

"Um, Fuji, what's going on?" she asked, tapping him on the shoulder.

"Get the hell away from me!" he growled angrily, throwing her hand off of him and storming away. He looked like he was going to kill someone.

Since that didn't work, she went over to Eiji. He was letting something soak in the basin used for washing up after a long, hard practice. He mumbled to himself, and pulled his jacket out of the dark liquid. It was black. He smiled at it, and started waving it around to dry. It was then that Miku noticed that all of his clothes were now black, as was his hair.

'Weird,' she thought, and walked away, only to run into Tezuka, who was grinning from ear to ear. "It's wonderful to be alive!" he said in a high-pitched voice, twirling around on his toes like a ballerina. Miku backed away, and as she did so picked up on someone talking.

"What a stupid idiot. Twirling around like the bumbling moron he is…"

Miku spun around, and Oishi was standing there, an evil smile on his face and a voodoo doll with Tezuka's name on it in his right hand. He noticed her standing there, and, tossing the doll aside, assumed a cool composure.

"Hey there, cutie. What's up?" Miku started to run, but Oishi grabbed her wrist, stopping her escape.

"Where're you going?" he said smoothly, pulling her up to him. Miku, at a loss for what to do, knocked his legs out from under him and ran. Oishi fell backwards, hitting his head on the ground. As Miku scampered away from Oishi's angry shouts, she passed Inui, who was sitting by himself and talking in a crazed voice to the animals that surrounded him. Since they probably didn't want to be there, he had put them in cages.

She ran up to Ryoma, who might be sensible enough, and tried to ignore Momo and Kaidoh's flirting in the background.

"Ryoma, what's going on?" Miku asked frantically. As she did, Oishi caught up to her, grabbing her wrist so hard it hurt. Miku winced and shouted at him, "Go away! That hurts!"

"Then stop running _away_," he countered, his voice smooth once again.

Ryoma put his hands in between the two, making both Miku and Oishi look at him.

"Peace," he said, eyes closed, but then looked up to Oishi, who was glaring at him. "Leave her alone?"

"Shove off, bastard," Oishi said angrily, pushing Ryoma forcefully onto the ground with both hands, giving Miku a chance to take off again.

Seeing Taka up ahead of her, Miku grabbed a racket while running and sprinted forward towards the brunette. Not wanting to be ambushed again, she tossed the racket to Taka, who went from yelling and screaming to extremely quiet as he gripped the handle.

"Taka, help!" Miku shouted at him, and ran towards the clubhouse. Taka looked confused for a moment, but seeing Oishi sprinting after Miku, stuck the racket in the troublemaker's face, knocking him over. Miku, meanwhile, had picked up someone's spare key and locked herself in the clubhouse, resting to calm the painful stitch in her side.

As Oishi banged on the door, Miku looked around the room. There was a jug with Inui's name scrawled on it in black lettering. It was leaking liquid; not the color of the stuff that had caused this mess, but a revolting shade of reddish-orange.

Miku looked closer, and underneath **"Inui Juice Deluxe Super Re-Remix"** were the words **"the formula that undoes all of the previous juices' effects"** and **"almost non-toxic**.**"** The last part was worrying, but it'd have to do.

Miku stealthily unlocked the clubhouse door, a water bottle of the Inui Juice Deluxe Super Re-Remix in hand. Just as she opened the door swiftly, Oishi opened his mouth to yell at her.

"You-" as he spoke, Miku squirted the red-orange stuff into his mouth. Both of Oishi's hands were clapped over his mouth, and he turned a lovely shade of parsley green as he ran off.

Eiji was now the next closest person, so Miku walked over to him. His newly blackened jacket was draped on a tree branch, it being too hot outside to wear a jacket now, and he was scratching messages into his skin with a blue pen.

"Eiji." The normally bouncy and normally red headed 3rd year looked up with a glare.

"Leave me alone." he said, turning his back on her. But instead of obeying him, Miku readied her water bottle and walked over to face him.

"I thought I told you-" he managed in a growl, before the new Inui Juice Deluxe- you get the idea- was squirted into his mouth. Eiji coughed a few times, and then as he looked around, his eyes widened considerably.

"Nya, why are my clothes black?" he asked, bouncing to his feet. Miku handed him a mirror, and when he looked at it, he dropped it, the glass shattering on the grey pavement.

"Why is my hair black? I hate that color!" Eiji complained loudly. "And why is my jacket in a tree?"

Miku walked over to Tezuka, who was still dancing around like he was the star in a ballet. Behind her, Eiji cried, "Why are all these depressing words on my arm?"

As Miku squirted the juice at Tezuka while he was in the middle of a jump, he was yanked to the ground by gravity, or perhaps his Tezuka Zone, and stood there as he usually did- stoic faced, fixing his glasses.

Trotting around the emotionless captain, Miku went over to Inui, who was holding a cage containing an orange cat and talking to it.

"They don't understand me… no one understands me…" he mumbled to it, laughing in escalating volume. The cat pressed itself up against the back of the cage.

Since Inui was still laughing, Miku squirted his own concoction into his mouth.

"Ii, data," he said in his normal monotone. Inui held out his hand, and Miku handed him his notebook and pencil that lay just a few feet away. The data taking had begun, so Miku escaped over to Ryoma quickly.

He was sitting on a bench, legs crossed in front of him on the seat, eating an ice cream cone. Even now, he didn't open his mouth very wide, so Miku would have to try something else…

Ding! Light bulb moment!

"Ryoma, try this on your ice cream," she said, squirting a little bit onto the sugary vanilla mass. "It's really tasty."

He obliged with a smile, but when he did eat the stuff, he dropped the cone, and doubled over, coughing. But then he suddenly sat back up again, and croaked, "Mada mada dane, Miku-senpai."

Miku walked away with a chuckle, and came upon Taka. He was still holding the racket and staring at it.

"Taka, here." She tossed the bottle to him, and he caught it and squirted some of the juice into his mouth. Since he was still holding the racket, his usual personality flared.

"BURNING!"

"That's better," Miku said with a smile, taking the racket and the water bottle out of the 3rd year's hand. He instantly turned shy again, and walked away.

Miku strolled over to Fuji, who was busy torturing an innocent first year named Kachiro. Yes, he was usually a bit of a sadist, but this was way farther than he usually went. The poor 7th grader was tied up in a tree and hanging upside down, and Fuji was laughing maliciously as he pushed the boy so that he swung back and forth.

"Fuji! Sore o yamete!" Miku cried, catching the tensai's attention. He then advanced on her, rope in hand, leaving Kachiro to swing freely from the tree branch. His terror-filled face was beginning to be rosy from the blood flowing downward to his head.

"Eto… someone… help!" Miku yelled, backing up, but not taking her eyes off of Fuji for fear that he'd attack. There was no one in their general area, so she had to use the water bottle.

"F-Fuji, want some of this?" she asked nervously, hoping he'd take it.

"I don't want your damn juice," he said, grabbing it. He tried to toss it over his head, but ended up just squirting some in his face, and, consequently, into his mouth.

Much to Miku's surprise, he didn't cough, choke, or lose his breakfast like the others had. He just smacked his lips a few times and tried to take a sip of the disgusting mixture before Miku took it from him.

"Miku, why'd you do that? It tastes good."

"You're insane. Anyway, why don't you go help Kachiro over there? He's in a bit of a pickle."

Fuji turned, and walked over to the first year. Starting to untie him, the tensai asked, "Saa, Kachiro, why are you in a tree?"

Now for the last two- Kaidoh and Momo. The two that you could always see arguing all the time; the two that even the slightest provocation could make them snap and fight.

Now, however, they were beside some trees, coquetting and giggling; two things that you wouldn't see in a million years for either of them. But together, somehow, they were engaged in a kind of romance that Miku hoped that she'd never see again.

As Miku approached the pair and was just a few feet away, the two started to lean in for a kiss. Miku quickly squirted some juice in Kaidoh's face, and he reacted quickly, shoving Momo aside and starting an argument. She poured some of the stuff into Momo's mouth and left the area quickly as the fight escalated. All was back to normal.

* * *

Everyone except for Momo and Kaidoh was gathered outside the tennis court's gate, chatting. Eiji was whining about his clothes and his arm to Fuji, who had a smile on his face, as always. Taka was conversing with Oishi on what they thought had happened in the time passed, since none of them could remember. Ryoma was standing by himself drinking a Ponta, and Inui was busy writing in a dark green notebook. When Tezuka got their attention, though, everyone was silent.

"I don't know what happened, but morning practice for today is cancelled. You're all dismissed!" Tezuka ordered.

"Hai!" was the unified reply. Miku took her seat on the bench again and mulled over in her thoughts what had happened in the past hour or so, laughing every once in a while. This was going to be a good story to tell Eiji and Fuji- _especially_ the Tezuka part. They'd get a kick out of that for sure.

Looking at the almost-all-the-way-risen sun in the multicolored sky, Miku wondered how that conversation would go…

-THE END-

**You like?**

**Enjoy, and comment/pm- whose is your favorite reversed personality?**

**I was originally going to have this chapter as a oneshot, but I didn't know who to have as the unaffected one. But now I've completed it! Mwahaha!**

**(Stop doing that= sore o yamete)**


	16. After the Fact

**Sorry it took so long to update! Being sick and having an ankle injury all at the same time don't really go over well...**

**But anyway, here's the chapter! Remember: outotou=little brother.**

Chapter 15

After the Fact

Eiji was sleeping soundly on Monday morning. His alarm clock didn't go off, so it was quite inevitable that he would be late to morning tennis practice, and maybe even to school. Unless someone came to wake him up, that is.

His sister, Hikari, entered the room at the request of her mom. The third oldest Kikumaru sibling was probably the mellowest of them all.

Not that that accounted for anything.

"Eijii!" she yelled in his ear, shaking him. "Don't make me jump on you!"

Eiji groaned and stirred, burying his face in his pillow. He reached over to his bedside table where a fly swatter lay. He grabbed it and slashed it quickly across Hikari's face, knocking her over.

"SCORE!" Eiji yelled, jumping up, his voice resonating through the house.

"That's 3-2, Eiji leads," Tatsuya commentated, pencil posing as a microphone in hand, jumping into the room with Daisuke.

"Hey, that's not fair!" Hikari argued from the floor, propping herself up on one elbow. "No one said we could use weapons!" She rubbed the red, repeated x-pattern that was now showing on her face.

"A fly swatter doesn't count as a- uh oh!" Eiji cried, covering his mouth in shock as he saw the clock. He ran out the door of his bedroom, grabbing his backpack.

"Wait, Eiji! The war has just begun!"

"Halt, child!"

"Outotou! The teddy bears!"

* * *

Eiji arrived just in time for practice, so he wasn't late after all. He walked onto the courts after setting his backpack in the club room. He walked up to Fuji, wanting to have a practice match as a warm up.

Fuji looked up from fixing his grip tape and snorted with laughter.

"F-Fujiko?" Eiji said, confused. "What's so funny?"

"Did you just roll out of bed, or am I missing out on Pajama Day at school today?" Fuji asked, still laughing.

Eiji blushed, looking down at what he was wearing- under his blue and white Seigaku jacket was a big red t-shirt and the hot pink teddy-bear print bottoms that he'd had to wear for a week because he lost a bet with Daisuke. Eiji turned crimson as he begged Fuji to give him an extra uniform. Fuji handed him the extra clothes, and Eiji, blushing more, if at all possible, walked as quickly as he could to the clubhouse to change- and maybe set fire to the stupid pink bear pajama pants.

"Mada mada dane, Eiji-senpai," Ryoma teased with a smirk. Anyone could tell that he was about to burst out laughing.

"Ii, data." Eiji didn't have to look back to see who said _that. _

"Kikumaru, you have 30 seconds," Tezuka ordered.

Eiji ran into the clubhouse and past Momo, who was holding his sides and laughing so hard he was almost falling over.

In about 25 seconds, Eiji sprinted back out onto the courts in full tennis uniform, but just ended up standing in the middle of the playing area by himself awkwardly. After looking around, noticing everyone was staring at him, he dragged Fuji onto the other side of the court and started the game.

* * *

Eiji had had to change out of his uniform to go to school. Throughout the entire day, he wore a permanent blush as he tried to avoid being seen in the halls. There were mixed comments, ranging from "Eiji! Love the pants!" to "What the hell are _you_ wearing?" Laughter followed him everywhere he went.

After practice, Eiji kept Fuji's uniform on (despite the fact that it was slightly too short for him) and left as quickly as he could, promising to wash and return it the next day. As he exited the Seigaku gate and started home, he spotted Miku up ahead of him. He launched into a run.

"Miku."

Miku looked up from her walk as Eiji caught up and kept pace with her. He looked down, and, noticing her ring, held out the paper.

"Is this yours?" Eiji asked, knowing full well that it was.

"I-I don't need it anymore," Miku said, not giving the instructions sheet a second glance. Eiji folded it into fourths and put it into his back pocket.

"What did you do this weekend?" He asked, attempting to sound nonchalant.

The ring flashed scarlet.

"Why does it matter?" she said, voice trembling, struggling to keep her voice quiet.

"I-I was just...asking..." Eiji said softly, trying to be peaceable.

"I have to go. Dad's finally home for once," Miku said, eyes closed, and a pained expression on her face. She walked away.

"Say hi to him for me!" Eiji called after her, pausing on his trip home to leave her be. He saw her tense and walk faster.

"What did you do now?" Fuji asked, suddenly standing beside Eiji.

"I have no idea," Eiji answered, looking after Miku, but she was no longer there. "She said that she had to go home because her dad was there."

To this statement, Fuji shuddered and mumbled, "Not _that_ again..." Aloud, he continued, "Eiji, did you notice anything funny in the way she acted as she said that?"

"Well, she didn't look like she really wanted to go home. Do Miku and her dad fight a lot?"

Fuji rubbed his temple as if he had a headache.

"I don't know how to put this, Eiji," the former murmured.

"Spit it out, Fujiko."

"Miku lied to you."

There was silence, apart from their feet padding along the sidewalk.

"Say what?" Eiji said, confused.

"Miku... doesn't have a dad, Eiji."

"N-Nani? Why? What happened, nya?"

Fuji sighed. "It was on her fifth birthday that it happened. Miku's father was driving home from getting presents and party decorations when he was hit while going through an intersection. Both drivers were killed instantly. By the time emergency crews arrived, both cars were flipped over and ablaze. When the news was broken first to her mom and then to Miku, the party was cancelled and they spent the rest of the weekend crying."

Silence filled the air.

"That's… that's terrible," Eiji whispered, not able to say much because of his current state of shock.

More noiselessness.

"So… how did your little stalking adventure go?" Fuji asked, slightly more cheerful now.

"Do I have to say?" Eiji groaned sadly.

"Yes, you do. Was it that bad?"

"Actually, it was," Eiji replied resentfully. "Ootori and Miku kissed."

Now it was Fuji's turn to be stupified; so much so that his mouth hung open slightly and his eyes widened.

"W-What?"

"Yup, you heard right. With their date and Ootori saying he loves her, it was… all too much..." Eiji looked at a nearby brick wall and wondered how hard he'd have to kick to put a hole in it.

"Eiji, I'm so sorry," Fuji said genuinely. Inside, though, he was seriously confused. What had happened to the secret that she had entrusted him with?

"Don't be, it's not your fault," Eiji dismissed his friend's comment bitterly. "You missed your street, by the way."

"I did?" Fuji looked back. "Right. See you tommorow, Eiji."

Eiji waved once, and both friends parted ways. Eiji walked up his driveway, subconsciously avoiding the foam bullets and soccer balls that were shot, hurled, or kicked at him by his siblings (namely Hikari). He shut the door, and as he did so, someone whizzed past his house on a bike.

He ascended the stairs, entered in his room, and solemnly sat down on his bed. With a sigh, he hung his head in his hands.

* * *

Miku, trying to forget Saturday, trying to forget the hour beforehand, was going faster than she had ever before to the park. She sped past Eiji's house and heard the click of a closing door.

Suddenly, a soccer ball rolled into her path, and she flew off of the bike, tumbling to the ground. When Miku finally stopped rolling, she heaved herself up onto her side and surveyed the damage. She had skinned knees and elbows, scrapes up both shins, cuts on her palms, and on further examination, one deep scratch across her cheek. She sighed, and stood up…

…but promptly fell over again in pain.

She had sprained her ankle.

Not knowing what else to do, she propped herself up against the brick wall that acted as a fence for Eiji's front yard and tried to feel where the sprain had occurred. But after scrutinizing her ankle further and bringing more throbbing pain, Miku discovered that the entire left half of the joint had been injured. With a disdainful look to her now mangled bike, she limped home as best she could.

Before she completely bypassed Eiji's house, though, she looked up to his second story window and thought, 'I'm sorry, Eiji.'


	17. Happy Birthday!

**I'm so sorry it took SOO long to update. My other OC story is taking a lot of my attention, and so is school. ^.^' Gomen, minna. Too bad you can't come see the musical that I'm in.**

**Um… I have no idea how birthdays are celebrated in Japan, but I'm just going to go with the American way. Sorry.**

**AND I PRAY THAT YOU ALL KNOW WHERE THE SOCCER BALL THAT MIKU'S BIKE TRIPPED (for lack of a better word) OVER CAME FROM!**

**Enjoy the new chapter, and I'll try to update ASAP! ;D**

* * *

Chapter 16

Happy Birthday!

**-Flashback…-**

_Miku, trying to forget Saturday, trying to forget the hour beforehand, was going faster on her bike than she had ever before to the park. She sped past Eiji's house and heard the click of a closing door._

_Suddenly, a soccer ball rolled into her path, and she flew off of the bike, tumbling to the ground. When Miku finally stopped rolling, she heaved herself up onto her side and surveyed the damage. She had skinned knees and elbows, scrapes up both shins, cuts on her palms, and on further examination, one deep scratch across her cheek. She sighed, and stood up…_

…_but promptly fell over again in pain._

_She had sprained her ankle._

_Not knowing what else to do, she propped herself up against the brick wall that acted as a fence for Eiji's front yard and tried to feel where the sprain had occurred. But after scrutinizing her ankle further and bringing more throbbing pain, Miku discovered that the entire left half of the joint had been injured. With a disdainful look to her now mangled bike, she limped home as best she could._

_Before she completely bypassed Eiji's house, though, she looked up to his second story window and thought, 'I'm sorry, Eiji.'_

_-THE DAY AFTER-_

_Eiji awoke early, in stark contrast to the day prior, and decided to take a walk before school. Since there was no morning practice, he had some time to kill, and decided that letting the crisp, chilled early morning air wake him up._

_As he walked outside in his pajamas, the non-teddy bear ones this time, he noticed a wrecked bicycle at the end of his driveway. On examining it, he identified it as Miku's. With a glance down the street towards her house, he wheeled the bike with much effort into his garage._

_Miku rolled over in bed, trying not to put any weight on her injury. With a sigh, she looked over to the shiny silver crutches leaning up against her closet door. They were too tall for her by just a few inches, but even so they hurt her arms to use them. But since a wheelchair or just walking everywhere she needed to go was out of the question, she had no choice but to use them._

_Yesterday, her mom had taken her to the doctor in a panic, completely forgetting that Miku needed help walking on her own. The cripple limped around until she got all the way out to the front yard where the car was waiting on the street. _

_Once at the hospital, it took forever and a half for the doctor, who was running late, to see Miku and her mom. But when the ankle in question was finally examined, the Kasuragis were informed that it would've been better for Miku to break her ankle than to sprain it, because the injury was the worst sprain the doctor had ever seen. The crutches were handed over to Miku, and finally the cripple could fall asleep at home at twelve AM._

**-Flashback end…-**

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY, EIJI!"

Saturday, November 28th- Eiji's birthday. He was the youngest third year on the regulars, and just now was he turning fourteen. The birthday boy wore an ecstatic expression as his blindfold was removed by Fuji and he saw all of his friends gathered in his living room. Miku, Taka, and Oishi sat on one couch (Taka in between the two; Miku was still wary of Oishi) and on the sectional were, in order: Ryoma, Momo, Rei, Kaidoh, Inui, and Tezuka, who was looking like he had a serious headache.

Eiji happily bounced over to the table that held a hand-baked and frosted cake, ready to blow out the candles. He looked around expectantly.

"What's that look for, Eiji-senpai?" Momo asked, confused.

"You have to _sing_!" Eiji prompted.

Miku chuckled, and started the song.

"Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you!"

Fuji and Rei soon joined in, and everyone but Inui, Ryoma, and Tezuka sang along in the end.

"Happy birthday to Eiji! Happy birthday to you!"

And with that, Eiji put out his 14 candles in one blow.

The mess that ensued following the birthday song involved Eiji eating almost half of the two layer cake (until Fuji confiscated his fork), a lot of karaoke, and Miku being high on chocolate. Eiji and Momo made Tezuka participate in karaoke by duct taping the microphone to his hand and picking a "random" song for him, which just _happened_ to be "That's What Girls Do." The stoic captain actually turned out to be quite a good singer; until he left halfway through the song, that is.

Everyone brought a present- Taka brought Eiji's favorite type of sushi. Kaidoh brought a red bandana (creature of habit). Momo promised to pay for the next time that he, Eiji, and Ryoma went out to eat at their favorite fast food restaurant (but everyone doubted that that would happen the instant the sentence came out of Momo's mouth). Ryoma brought red and blue grip tape rolls (proving to everyone where his mind was constantly present). Oishi brought an all day pass to Eiji's favorite amusement park (turns out he still knew Eiji inside and out). Inui brought his brand new juice (which was automatically poured down the nearest drain), and Miku, Rei, and Fuji pooled their resources to get Eiji a fish, which he had wanted for a long time.

Eiji looked over to his last present- a thick, rectangular object wrapped in dark green paper with a simple silver bow. When he opened it, a large book was the focus of the entire room. Eiji placed it behind him with an odd mix of a look of disdain and a smile. Everyone knew that the owner of the gift was their stoic captain.

The birthday boy excused himself for a short while and bounded up the stairs to his room. He shut the door and ran over to his bed.

Sitting down, Eiji mumbled to himself, "I need to tell her! I need to tell Miku how I feel!" He had been going over how to confess in his mind since he had woken up that day, but all of the situations turned out to be awkward in the end.

He bopped the side of his head and headed downstairs again. When Eiij arrived back in the living room, Inui, Taka, Momo, Kaidoh, Oishi, and Ryoma were standing by the door.

"Happy birthday, Eiji-senpai," Momo said with a smile. "We're gonna go now. See you!"

Eiji gaped at them.

"Ochibi! Don't leave me!" He cried, glomping on the short green-haired boy.

"Kikumaru-senpai, get off."

"Don't talk to your elders like that!" Eiji pulled Ryoma's cheeks out to the sides. "Momo, I expect you to keep your promise! You are going to pay for dinner!"

With that, the redhead bounced happily back to the living room, waving to his fellow tennis team members who were walking out his front door. He plopped down on the couch next to Miku. The only other person in the room was Fuji, who was currently hoping that something would happen, though he would never show it on his face.

Eiji shot Fuji a look, and the latter seemed to understand.

"Excuse me, I'll be right back," the tensai said, and left Eiji alone with Miku.

Silence was the ambiance of the entire room as Miku frequently fidgeted on the couch next to her redheaded friend.

Suddenly, Eiji turned to face Miku on the couch.

"M-Miku-chan," he stuttered. "I… I really li-"

"Eiji! Eiji! Eiji! Guess what!" Miku interrupted. She was clearly on too much of a sugar high to concentrate.

Eiji sighed, asking, "What is it?"

The brunette across from him stared with wide eyes. "I sprained my ankle."

Eiji blinked. "Yeah? What's your point?"

"It really hurt!" Miku cried, beaming. "It was like… Zoom! ZOOOM! CRASH! WHACK! OUCH!"

Eiji, ducking away from her violent arm gestures, couldn't help but be slightly annoyed by the fact that his crush wasn't listening. He could just see Fuji outside the door trying his best not to make any noise, but dying of laughter nonetheless.

'Why is this so hard?' he thought as Miku launched into a very descriptive and loud story about her trip to the doctor. 'It's just one simple confession. Why is it so difficult?'

"Yeah! And then the doctor said that the sprain was _really,_ _really _bad! And then he gave me the crutches! They're so shiny!"

Just then, Fuji calmly strode into the room.

"Miku, your mom said that you should probably come home now," he informed his friend. The tensai shot a 'You're welcome' look at Eiji.

The acrobat handed Miku's crutches to her, and opened the front door for her to make her way to her mom's car. As he was shutting the door, Miku shouted back, "Love ya, Eiji!" in a way that could hardly be described as serious.

Eiji headed back into the living room with clenched fists. Fuji was seated on the corner of the sectional watching his friend.

"Dammit!" Eiji yelled. "Dammit! Dammit! Dammit!"

He flopped down on the couch across the room from Fuji with an angry sigh.

"Fujiko! Why am I so stupid?"

"Saa, that's a personal question."

"You're not helping! I can't figure out how to tell Miku how I feel!"

"Sorry. But just remember, you see her almost every day. There's a lot of time then. Plus, you live a block away from her."

"I can't tell her at school!"

"Why not?"

"It's not… it's not… right!"

Fuji raised an eyebrow.

"School isn't private enough!"

"Well, aren't_ you_ romantic?" The brunette chuckled, standing. "The time will come, Eiji."

"Just because your nickname is tensai doesn't mean you know everything, y'know."

"Hey, don't get mad at me. I'm sure you'll find a way. Go complain to your bear for a while and you'll find a solution, I'm sure. But now I have to go. Yuuta is coming home for the first time in a while."

After Eiji didn't respond, Fuji knew enough to leave the brooding teenager alone and let himself out.

Just as he was opening the front door, Eiji went flying past him up the stairs, yelling, "Daigorou Bear! She didn't even say happy birthday when she left!" With a laugh, Fuji shut the front door with a click.


	18. The Acrimonious Duel

**Sorry again for another late chapter. School, though it is easy, is time consuming, and it's insane trying to write two stories at once, get good grades, and have a decent family life. **

**Enjoy the chapter! And please, comment! If you comment, you seriously ****make my day****. I'm not kidding you. I love comments! However, ****I don't want to have to set a comment goal for y'all****, so don't make me! :D **

**OMG! OMG! OMG! I'M A RAVENCLAW!**

* * *

Chapter 17

The Acrimonious Duel

_-Two Weeks After the Birthday Party-_

Miku, just like the Hyoutei matches, was early. Not two hours early, though, just a measly hour. She'd thought that the day Seigaku was playing was a school day instead of the Saturday it really was. So there she sat, on a bench with her white and green air cast on her right ankle in her white shirt, green jacket with pink bow, and short green skirt, staring off into space. An earphone was in one ear, music drifting from it at a comfortable volume, and a sketch pad sat slightly off-kilter on her lap.

The park that the Seigaku team would be playing their matches at was very pretty, so Miku was sketching the landscape. The tree nearest to her as well as the edge of the tennis court was completed.

Suddenly, Miku was aware of someone leaning on the back rest of the bench. She looked up. A handsome boy with light silver hair that had hints of black and white was smiling down at her. His arms were crossed casually.

"Hey there," he said. "Are you a Seigaku supporter?"

Miku shook her head in the affirmative.

He gave a short laugh. "Mind if I sit down?"

Miku nodded again, going back to her drawing in the hope of brushing him off. The boy gracefully hopped over the top of the bench and took a seat a little too close to Miku for her liking. He spoke again in his smooth voice, "I'm Saeki Kojirou. But of course, you can just call me Saeki."

* * *

About a hundred yards to the pair's right, Eiji sat next to an occupied Fuji fuming.

_That bastard is way too close to Miku… get the _hell _away from Miku…_

Eiji felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked behind him and saw Fuji giving him a concerned smile.

"Eiji, we don't want to blow anyone up by glaring at them, do we?" the tensai asked.

The redhead glowered at him.

"All right, don't answer that. But… look, she's leaving, so you won't have to worry."

Eiji grumbled to himself and looked over.

* * *

Back at the bench, Miku finally tired of Saeki's coquetting.

"Excuse me, but I think I need to go now. See you around, _Kojirou-san_." And with that, Miku walked off toward where the Seigaku team was gathered. Saeki wore a misty-eyed expression, his eyes fixed on the bouncing brown waves of her hair. After a while, he too headed over to where his team was, as a fukubuchou well should.

Miku stood by the Seigaku players, cheering as the first match neared its end. Momo and Taka, the power players, were playing wonderfully. The spiky-haired boy was unleashing his mind games on the opponent, and the slight schizophrenic was revealing his new shot-the dash hadokyuu.

Miku became aware of a presence behind her, wanting to get her attention. She turned. Sakuno was standing there, blushing as usual, and holding a bag that contained yellow and blue items.

"Miku-san, want to cheer with Tomo and I?" she asked.

"All right, but you know my policy," Miku answered with a grin.

Sakuno smiled as well. "We're cheering for Kikumaru-san, too, don't worry."

"Good. Where's the bathroom?"

"…."

* * *

Eiji and Fuji stood across from their opponents, Saeki and Itsuki. The opponents shook hands.

"Go Eiji! Go Fuji!"

Eiji looked over to who was cheering. Miku was dressed in a yellow tank top and short blue skirt and was holding a pair of pom-poms. He blushed, and looked back to where Saeki was watching him with an amused expression.

"I see what's going on here," the silver haired boy said smugly. "Well, Kikumaru, I have an idea. Are you in?"

Eiji just glared at him.

"How about a duel? Whoever wins the match gets…" he continued, gesturing subtly over to Miku, "…the girl."

Fuji raised an eyebrow while Eiji considered the suggestion with a growing evil grin.

"I accept," the redhead said, shaking Saeki's hand. The tensai sighed with a slight eye roll.

* * *

"Oh no, not again," Miku murmured with great concern. Eiji was once again low on stamina.

'That jerk,' she thought. 'Saeki totally played him to make him run everywhere.'

Currently, Eiji was standing in one spot, head down, and not moving. Fuji was taking on both Itsuki and Saeki by himself, but he was losing ground. The Rokkaku guys were good. They had not only sealed one of Fuji's triple counters, but had almost broken Eiji as well.

"Looks like this battle is going to be mine, Kikumaru," Saeki called to the exhausted redhead as he hit a smash past Eiji to get yet another point. Eiji didn't have enough energy to glare. It'd mean he'd have to lift his head.

'I shouldn't have tried that move… I'm never going to make it back now,' The acrobat thought, panting hard.

Fuji and Itsuki were rallying in the small space between the singles' and doubles' boundary lines, getting "oohs" and "ahs" from the spectators outside the fence.

_21, 22, 23, 24, 25…_

Fuji, getting ready to serve, looked forward at his doubles partner and smiled mysteriously. He hit the ball with a new, sudden energy. Consequently, his opponents couldn't touch the serve.

_37, 38, 39, 40…_

The tensai played a baseline rally with Itsuki. The tennis ball slowly neared the net.

Closer, closer…

_43, 44, 45…_

And finally, with a mighty stroke of his racket, Fuji Syuusuke hit a perfect Tsubame Gaeshi. The Seigaku supporters went wild.

"Did you see that, Echizen?" Momo yelled in the shorter boy's ear as the former glomped on the latter.

"I might've been able to see it better if you weren't hanging on me," Ryoma answered with a slight hat adjustment and a sip from his Ponta can.

_60, 61, 62…_

After another Tsubame Gaeshi, Itsuki and Saeki still couldn't find the flaw in their plan, which brought a smile of malicious delight to Fuji's face.

Another rally ensued, but this time the tensai didn't try to make the ball get closer to the net.

_78…_

Saeki's eyes scanned the bright green tennis ball nervously as his teammate and childhood friend hit back and forth. Rokkaku was definitely being pushed back, even though they were playing 2-on-1.

_85…_

Fuji, however, did seem to be getting closer to the net. There could be an opening for Rokkaku somewhere…

"Itsuki! Hit it to the baseline!" Saeki commanded.

_Pom!_ A lob shot up above the Seigaku court. Taking a half step back, the tensai hit a crushing smash, earning yet another point. The flow was all Seigaku's now.

_93…_

Fuji served an easy, slow(er) serve, letting his opponents return it easily. He didn't mind if the other team knew he had something up his sleeve.

"Argh!" Saeki grunted. He had hit a lob sky-high to the other court; his timing had been off because he had expected a fast serve like the previous one.

_98, 99, 100!_

Fuji straightened up and tilted his racket onto his shoulder.

"I'm sorry, Saeki-san," he said with a smile. "But this duel… is _over._"

And with that, Eiji smashed the ball at a fantastic speed on the other side of the court.

Still panting but grinning with the sheer glee of a win, the redhead hopped, skipped, and jumped over to his teammate and happily gave him a fist bump.

"Thanks for covering, Fujiko!" the former cried cheerfully.

Fuji chuckled. "I'm just glad to see your counting skills are still up to par."

After a handshake between opponents and the tensai having to drag Eiji away from taunting Saeki about his win, the dream pair rejoined the Seigaku team.

"Sugei, Fuji, Eiji," Miku congratulated.

To the latter, she added, "You… you really should be more careful, Eiji."

Mentally, the redhead was agape at his crush. He had just fought an acrimonious duel for her, and now she was patronizing him.

Miku and Eiji sat down outside the fence as the next match began. Both of them were thinking hard.

'Is now the time? Can I tell her now?'

'He shouldn't have endangered himself like that… I almost had a heart attack…'

'Crap, there are a ton of people watching. I can't tell her now!'

They sighed quietly, almost in unison.

Would this torture never end?

* * *

**I don't know why, but Saeki is such a ladies' man to me-even more so than Sengoku. He just seems that way since he's so handsome. *shrug* Not that I care.**

**COMMENT PLEASE! ****I WOULD NOT MIND TIPS ON HOW TO CONTINUE THE STORY!**** (Though I already have it planned out, some ideas for future wouldn't hurt) AND I WILL TRY TO UPDATE AS SOON AS I CAN! **

**And as one of my favorite fan fiction authors said, "****Flames welcome, as they are good for marshmallows. As long as I don't burn them."**

**Please excuse any stupid punctuation or spelling errors I might've made as I am finishing this chapter at 12 AM. I'd appreciate it if minna would point out any wrongdoings in the grammar department so that I can correct them. **

**See you next chapter! Au revoir!**


	19. Training Camp

**Well, here we are at another chapter! This story is nearing its end, so please comment :D 'cause if you do, you get a cookie—but not chocolate chip; those are all mine. Unless you're super duper special, that is.**

**This chapter is only **_**slightly**_** AU… without taking into account the fact that this whole story is majorly AU. ANYWAYS…!**

* * *

Chapter 18

Training Camp

_-3:00 A.M., OISHI'S HOUSE-_

Oishi woke up with a start as his phone rang loudly. Who could be calling him this early? He sat up grumpily. They were going to get a piece of his mind.

Oishi picked up the phone.

"What is it?" he asked.

"It's Eiji! Oishi, I don't know what to do!"

"What's the matter?" Oishi's anger evaporated instantly, turning into worry.

"Should I bring the Daigorou Bear on the trip today?"

Oishi simply sweatdropped.

* * *

_-9:00 A.M., ON BUS HEADING TO TRANING CAMP-_

"I'm soo happy we don't have any homework for a week!" cried Eiji, bouncing in his seat on the bus. "Ne, Fuji?"

"Yeah, but remember that we have to take make-up classes when we return to Seigaku," the tensai answered.

Eiji pouted. "But at least we get to focus on tennis!" He laughed. "Bet Ochibi's happy. He eats, sleeps, and breathes tennis. But…"

"But what?"

"Miku's not gonna be there…" The redhead mumbled. This had been to be his chance to confess, too…

Fuji patted his friend on the shoulder. "You'll survive, I'm sure."

From the other side of the aisle, Oishi looked from the pair to the floor and sighed.

* * *

Miku slumped against a white, clean wall.

"Are you okay, Kasuragi-san?"

"Yeah, Sakuno, I'm fine. I'm just glad we're finally done with all the cleaning. This place was _so_ dirty!"

Removing her face mask that covered her mouth, Miku stood and picked up her duster.

"Where do these go?" she asked, motioning to the cleaning supplies.

"Eto… I think they go under the kitchen sink." Sakuno answered, thinking.

"What are you guys doing dawdling around?" said Tomo bossily. "We still have to clean all the floors!"

Miku and Sakuno groaned in unison.

* * *

"We're here!" Coach Ryuzaki yelled.

The regulars, plus Kachiro, Katsuo, and Horio, filed out of the bus in hopes of a comfortable place to rest. They were greeted by an overgrown grass tennis court and an all together shabby estate.

"What's up with the house?" Momo asked incredulously, pointing to the small, run-down mansion in front of the team.

Eiji shrugged. "I dunno. Is that where we're staying?"

"I hope not…" the black haired second year grimaced.

"Momo, be quiet!" Coach Ryuzaki ordered. "Everyone inside, now! We're going to set down our things and then get to work!"

"Wonder if there's ghosts in this thing…" Momo murmured to Eiji, who shivered and laughed. Reaching for the doorknob, the redhead jumped back in fear as the door opened of its own accord.

"Hi!" Miku said cheerfully, jumping out from behind the door and giving the regulars quite a start. "You don't have to look so scared; it's only me."

"You scared us, Miku-chan!" Momo cried. Eiji nodded furiously. She wasn't supposed to be there!

"All right, but I have to show you all where you're going to be sleeping. Follow me."

Miku led the group down the hall. Eiji walked behind her, finding it hard to keep his eyes off the chestnut ringlets of her hair as she bounced in front of him. Fuji moved up in the group next to Miku and chatted with her until they arrived at their bedroom.

Sliding open the door with some difficulty, the only girl present (Coach Ryuzaki had gone to amuse herself elsewhere) stepped back so the regulars could see into the room. It was large and empty with a tatami mat floor.

Momo and Eiji groaned and led the group inside to drop their things off. In the background, people who were paying attention might've heard someone calling.

Fuji turned after placing his bag on the floor. "Ne, Miku-chan, where are you staying?"

"Ah, just down the hall from you."

Since Fuji, Eiji, and Momo were all following Miku anyway, the rest of the group decided to do so.

She slid open another door. "Here."

"Miku-chan! That's not fair! Why do you get a bunk bed, nya?" Eiji pouted.

"Maa, maybe she's just special," Fuji offered.

A few snickers went up from the group.

"Everyone, out to the courts," Tezuka ordered. "Coach has been calling for several minutes now."

"Oh, you knew?" the tensai queried guiltily.

With many grumbles and muttered curses the regulars headed outside to start their exercises.

Coach Ryuzaki lined the team up to do catching exercises. Ryoma was running back and forth on the court, and Momo, Eiji, and Oishi were next in line.

The acrobat looked up to his doubles partner's face. The former wanted to ask the latter something, but didn't quite know how.

"Ano… Oishi…"

The mother hen looked at Eiji.

"What is it?"

"Do… do you still like Miku-chan?"

Oishi's cheeks tinted pink, and he looked off into space for a few moments.

"Yeah. I know she likes someone else, though."

Eiji gasped.

"Who? Who? Tell me! Oishiii!"

The black haired boy laughed nervously. "I can't. You have to find out for yourself."

Eiji huffed and walked onto the court to take his turn.

* * *

After hours of working hard, the regulars sat on the ground, panting. Suddenly, nine startled tennis players looked up as a large bus pulled into the lot. The front door opened, spilling out the gorgeous song of a violin—and the Hyoutei regulars. Choutarou Ootori brought up the rear, serenading the group on his instrument.

"Thank you, Ootori, for the music," Atobe said in an actually thankless voice. "Ore-sama was… pleased."

The shy second year nodded, putting his violin back in its case.

The Hyoutei captain, after giving the estate a disdainful glance or three, asked, "Are we going to get started? Ore-sama is beginning to be bored."

"Right you are," Coach Ryuzaki agreed, clapping her hands together. "We're now going to have practice matches between teams. Seigaku regulars, pick a name out of this can—without looking, Eiji!—and see who you're paired with."

The acrobat, rubbing his head from where he'd been smacked, looked at his straw. His hand stopped in motion.

"Kaba-chan?" He wondered aloud. "Fujiko, am I reading this right?"

"I think so, Eiji."

"Ne? I have to play the hippo?"

"Usu."

Miku walked out of the villa and saw two ongoing tennis games. Getting closer, she noticed Hyoutei players were mingled with the Seigaku regulars, and Fuji was playing, as well. She'd have to cheer.

She approached Choutarou, pinching his shoulders playfully, making him jump and turn to see who it was.

"M-Miku-san," he said, laughing nervously. "I mean… Miku-chan. No… Miku. What are you doing here? No offense."

She laughed back. "I'm basically being the maid. I'm doing the cooking and cleaning."

"That's cool. Are you getting paid?"

"Nah. It's really worth it since they're working so hard."

She broke off to cheer loudly for Fuji after he scored on a smash.

Looking back to her friend, Miku bit her lip to stifle a giggle.

"Uh… Choutarou-chan, there's a f-frog on your shoulder…"

"There's a-wah! Get it off! Get it off!"

Watching her friend and kouhai flip out over a slimy amphibian made Miku forget about trying hot to laugh. She held her sides as Choutarou shooed the frog off and away into the bushes. He watched warily around him to make sure he wasn't assaulted again.

Eiji looked over to the two, and his face clouded over as he saw how much fun they were having. He decided to take things into his own hands.

"Miku-chan, can I talk to you please?" the redhead asked.

"Yeah," she answered, still laughing.

"I mean in private."

"Oh. Sure. Excuse me, Choutarou-chan." Fuji looked up from hitting a Higuma Otoshi, noticing his friends leave.

Miku followed Eiji back into the house and all the way through to the regulars' room wondering why they really needed to walk that far. Once inside and the acrobat was content they wouldn't get interrupted, he took a deep breath and exhaled irritably.

"How long have you two been going out?" Eiji asked.

"Who two?"

"You two!"

"You're not making any sense! Me and who else?"

"You and Ootori, of course."

"We aren't going out. What would make you think that, Eiji?"

"Oh, maybe you two _kissing_ in the park by your house a few weeks ago."

Miku blinked a few times, her anger growing.

"…you spied on us?"

"A little, yep." Eiji rolled his eyes to himself.

"How dare you! I don't go watching you wherever you go! And one more thing."

"What?" He was really starting to get impatient.

"I'm not dating Choutarou Ootori. Now leave me alone!"

And with that, Miku stomped off to make lunch for the team, leaving Eiji to his stunned thoughts in his room.

'Th-they aren't going out?' he thought, bewildered. 'Then that means… what were they…

'Wait—that means she's not dating anyone!

'But she's still mad at me…'

* * *

The regulars stretched after dinner and a long day of practice as they headed back to their room. As a few of them were starting to roll out their beds to sleep, a knock was heard on the door.

Fuji strode over and opened it. "Ah, Sakuno-san. What is it?"

A heavily blushing Sakuno, while staring at her own feet, mumbled nervously, "O-O-Obaasan says you all need to bathe before bed. M-Miku-san will bring soap and towels for you," and promptly ran back down the hall to the kitchen where Miku was cleaning up.

"I-I said it, Miku-san," the panting first year said, still the same color as an overripe tomato. "Can you deliver their bathing supplies? I'll finish the dishes."

"Un."

Miku picked up the box of soap and towels and heaved it down the hall. Balancing it on her knee, she knocked on the bathroom door. Fuji opened it again. Every regular was in nothing but short towels, which made the girl blush. Momo and Kaidoh were having a water fight in the background.

"Ne, Miku-chan, can we have the soap now?" Fuji asked, hands out. Miku stuffed the box into his hands and was about to leave when Eiji popped into view.

"Miku-chan! Can you-" he managed, before she shut the door in his face and walked away.

Eiji sat back on his heels. "That was mean."

"What did you do now?" Fuji wondered.

"I told her about spying on her and Ootori. But oh well, I'm not going to confess if she's going to act like that," the redhead explained. "But no matter. Let's make a bubble bath!" He grabbed several plastic soap bottles and dove into the water, making as big a splash as he could.

'They're both so helpless,' the tensai thought as he distributed the soap.

* * *

**I have a request for any and all of you who have time on your hands: can you please read my other OC story, AKA, and tell me what you think? And I know people are reading this; if they weren't I wouldn't have almost 2000 hits. **_**Comment!**_** This is going to be my first finished multi-chapter story in about 3 chapters!**

**Until next chapter! Au revoir!**


	20. Tennis Biathlon

**Hey, everyone! What's up? Welcome to the third to last chapter! :D Enjoy! Comment, please!**

**This chapter goes to Raf Kowalski for the amazing drawings of Miku and Riko (from my other story, AKA). I don't know if you're reading this but thank you again!**

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* * *

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Chapter 19

Tennis Biathlon

Miku woke with a start, suddenly aware of the fact that she had to cook breakfast for over fifteen people. It was a good thing Hyoutei didn't stay; that'd be nine more servings, not to mention Eiji's and Momo's monstrous appetites.

She rolled over and sat up so that her legs were hanging over the side. Speaking of Eiji, she wasn't quite ready to forgive him as of yet. Just the fact that he had been practically stalking her and Choutarou was wrong, but to make false accusations about something he hadn't even seen clearly was completely inexcusable.

Miku jumped onto the floor, and started to stomp to the kitchen, but remembering that there were still people sleeping, resolved to tiptoe instead past the regulars' room.

Meanwhile, Eiji lay awake on his futon. It hadn't helped that he'd rolled onto the cold floor a few minutes ago, but his terrible dream didn't make things any better. It had involved Miku not talking to him anymore, and he had been in a state of trepidation until he realized it was actually happening.

He half wanted to yell at everyone to get them up so he didn't have to go talk to Miku himself, but that would mean at least five of them tackling him as revenge. But it was no matter; Tezuka would probably be up soon and wake everyone up.

* * *

Turning off the ancient stove, Miku grabbed the rather oversized pot of tea and entered the dining room. The regulars and their guests (or coach, helpers, and cleaning crew to be more exact) were already eating apart from her and Katsuo, and latter had been extremely helpful in the cooking department for the past day.

Miku took a seat between Taka and Fuji; the latter had saved the spot with his bag of raw wasabi that no one wanted to touch (and Miku was afraid to even sit there). Eiji, after looking up at his crush from across the table, continued to eat voraciously.

"This is _really _good, Miku-chan," Taka commented shyly, smiling. Miku grinned back in thanks.

At the end of breakfast, Coach Ryuzaki had everyone give the cooks their own applause, but everyone was scooted out the door soon after for the day's onslaught of tennis. After the rules of what was called the "tennis biathlon" were read out, everyone went accordingly to their stations.

After ten minutes of running, the leading few regulars came to their first station. There was no one there, and they were stuck on one side of a river. When yells echoing into the forest were unanswered, Coach Ryuzaki was called on Fuji's phone. The realization was astonishing to all present, which by then meant all the regulars. Miku was missing.

In the chaos that followed one person managed to calm people down enough to organize search teams. Tezuka, after relative silence covered the group, spoke.

"As an unexpected extra part of our training, we are going to assist in finding Kasuragi-san. We will organize into groups as follows: In group one, Oishi, Kawamura, and Kaidoh. Group two: Inui and myself. Group three: Momoshiro and Echizen. And finally, in group four: Fuji and Kikumaru. Remember: yudan sezu ni ikou!"

"Hai!"

"Tezuka, wait," Fuji spoke hesitantly.

"What is it, Fuji?" several people asked.

"Where's Eiji?"

Taken aback, the group looked around them in shock. The energetic redhead had been there a second before. His disappearance simply meant one more person to look for.

Meanwhile, Eiji was searching frantically off the trail on which the regulars had previously run. As soon as he heard that Miku was nowhere to be found, he bolted off to find her, not thinking of what the rest of the team would do if he left without a trace as well.

"Eiji! Someone!"

The acrobat stopped in his tracks. Miku was close, so he decided to call back.

"Miku-chan!" he yelled.

"Eiji! Where are you? Hello?" came the answering shout, soft but still loud enough to be heard clearly.

Eiji looked down to try to find the voice that was calling him. In a steep depression in the ground, Miku was waving to him.

"Eiji! There you are! Can you help me?" She was surprisingly calm, given the fact that she was stuck in a hole with a frenzied search for her going on.

"I'm coming down," Eiji informed her, sliding down the leaves and loose dirt and landing on his feet next to her. He crouched and looked at Miku's face.

'We're alone; everyone else isn't going to bug us... should I tell her?'

Miku intruded on Eiji's thoughts by pointing up to the top of her trap.

"You know, Eiji, now we're both stuck. We can't get out."

He looked up. Sure enough, there were no trees to use to climb out, but there were rocks stuck in the dirt. The only problem was that every time he pushed on one, it fell out of the dried mud and onto the bottom of the hole; none of them would support the weight of a human.

Eiji sighed and sat down next to Miku. "How did you get in here, anyway?" he asked.

"I was walking to my station to help with the biathlon, but I wasn't watching where I was going. I stepped on the edge of the hole and fell in, I guess."

"Are you okay? Did you hurt yourself again?"

She shook her head, smiling in slight triumph. "Did I create a commotion?"

Eiji laughed softly, looking at the sky. "A bit, yeah."

The two sat in silence for a time, simply enjoying the other's company. The redhead fidgeted a few times before he moved to face Miku.

"Miku-chan, there's something I need to tell you."

"...W-what is it?"

Suddenly, a panting Fuji was peering over the edge of the hole. Miku was the first to notice.

"Oh! Fuji!"

Eiji turned in alarm. He had blown his chance.

"Miku-chan, Eiji, how did you get down here?" Fuji asked with a slight laugh.

"Well... it was all Eiji's fault, really," Miku explained with a scarily well-meaning grin.

"Na-nani? Miku-chan! That's not fair, nya! You're the one who got stuck first!" Eiji cried, pouting.

"Aha… okay, I'll get help, then. I can't get you out myself," the tensai informed, straightening and pulling his phone out of a pocket.

Ten minutes later, when Miku and Eiji were removed from their hole in the ground, the biathlon was allowed to continue once everyone was at their stations; Miku was just _escorted _that time around.

* * *

That night, after dinner and the regulars' baths, Eiji was lying awake in his sleeping bag by his room door, looking at the ceiling. He didn't know what he was going to do since he hadn't confessed earlier. Maybe Fuji would help him more, he thought.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a light flick on down the hall. Sitting up, Eiji felt curious. He slid out of the room as quietly as he could and into the kitchen. More instinctively than out of necessity, his eyes narrowed to adjust to the bright light.

"Eiji, what are you doing up?"

Eiji looked to his right. Miku was staring at him, and it seemed she was in the middle of doing the dishes. The old estate didn't have a dishwasher; it was a wonder it even had a stove in the first place. Consequently, she had to wash every dish by hand.

"I was just… um… getting a drink," the redhead excused himself. "Do you want help?"

Miku looked down to the soapsuds in the sink, and then back up to the acrobat with a smile.

"Sure."

Eiji picked up a rag and assisted in drying the dishes and putting them all back in the cupboards where they properly went. The two both laughed nervously when a plate clanked on another too loudly or when they heard sounds down the hall, feeling like a team of conspirators working in secret.

When they were finished and everything was where it rightfully belonged, Eiji and Miku said their farewells. The latter headed to the back of the kitchen and turned off the light. Still facing the wall, Miku spoke softly.

"Eiji, I forgive you—for everything."

Through the dark, Eiji could see her turn and smile at him. His face grew hot.

She walked toward the hall, saying, "Well, I suppose we should better be getting to sleep-" She stopped suddenly, feeling the redhead's hand on her wrist.

Miku's eyes traced up Eiji's arm and to his face.

_Love is patient._

"M-Miku-chan," Eiji began. "I've… I've loved you for so long."

_Love is kind._

He pulled her into a hug.

_It does not envy._

"I was really mad about Oishi, Ootori, and Saeki, but I'm not now." Eiji released her, and stepped back, looking at his sock-covered feet.

_It does not boast. It is not proud._

"You have no idea how often you cross my mind and stay there." Miku looked down at her feet too, not believing what she was hearing, despite the utter joy of it all.

_It is not rude. It is not self-seeking._

"Would it be possible for you to love me back?"

_It is not easily angered. It keeps no record of wrongs._

"The past is the past. It doesn't matter anymore."

_Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth._

"All I care about now... is you."

Miku was silent for a few moments, which seemed to take forever. A smile grew on her lips as she met eyes with Eiji.

_It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. _

She took his hand, and, smiling still, said, "I love you too, Eiji. Ever since I met you..."

They both laughed nervously, and hugged again. Looking at each other, Eiji pulled her closer and kissed her, suddenly glad to have the darkness to hide them both.

Breaking away, the redhead smiled and squeezed his new girlfriend's hand.

"I love you. Good night, Miku-chan," he said simply.

After watching him go down the hall, Miku ran to her bunk and sat on it, panting. She couldn't believe it. She had just _kissed_ Eiji.

She knew he loved her. She knew, for the most part, that it wasn't a dream.

But most of all, she knew she loved him—with all her heart.

* * *

**Oh dear. That seemed rather rushed, didn't it?**

**Anyways... So? How was it? Comments are greatly appreciated!**

**And if, for some unknown reason, you read this a week or two from now and find the ending line to be different, it's because I came up with a really good sentence and then completely forgot it by the time I got to the end. :( I hate that so much.**

**Um... If any of you have some extra time on your hands and want to help me out a little, can you do some illustrations for me? I don't care if they're of one of my stories or of a favorite anime/manga character that I like as well. That'd be fantastic! :)) If you want to submit a drawing I'll give my email so you can share it. Maybe I'll make a contest out of it ^.^ You may get a chapter dedicated to you or some other reward, but I don't want that to be the [only] reason you do this. Thanks in advance!**

**Love ya! Bye.**


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